In October 2023, Air France celebrated its 90th anniversary, which was an opportunity for the airline to recall what makes it unique among all the airlines: the French art de vivre. This 'je ne sais quoi' is recognized worldwide and is particularly appealing to premium international customers.

As the first airline to have its dishes signed by top French chefs and to fly a supersonic aircraft, Air France has always been at the cutting edge of its era, offering the best of French know-how on the international stage. Since its creation, designers, illustrators, chefs, architects, decorators and creators have enabled the brand to offer its customers a unique travel experience.

These 90 years of collaboration have given Air France a rich heritage that is unique in the airline industry. The challenge was to highlight this heritage without adopting a retrospective, old-fashioned approach.

The idea: to create 5 dresses from scratch, inspired by emblematic elements of the airline's heritage. Five dresses to illustrate 5 key pillars of the Air France experience: gastronomy, design, the network, technology, and fashion.

To imagine and design these original dresses, Air France teamed up with Xavier Ronze, Head of the costume design workshops at the Paris Opera Ballet. The costume designer created these designs from the iconic pieces that have marked the company’s history and heritage.

In the heart of Paris, Air France made the innovative choice to showcase its heritage in a way that is freely and easily accessible to all French and international visitors at the Galeries Lafayette.

A campaign that voluntarily borrows from the fashion customs to touch the French population, the international clientele but most importantly editorial offices and journalists.

To hit the headlines, Air France voluntarily selected the most distinctive elements of its heritage:

The uniforms designed by Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga, or Nina Ricci.

The iconic Air France offices and buildings drawn by Jean Prouvé or Charlotte Perriand.

The celebrated dishes imagined by Alain Ducasse or Joel Robuchon.

All these legendary names contributed to shape the airline’s image.

At a time where collaborations between brands and designers are legion, Air France chose to capitalize on the popularity of its 90 years of partnerships and its dresses collection. This to reach a large variety of editorial offices and influencers through the diversity of the partnerships and themes (gastronomy, design, art, architecture, fashion, etc.)

To imagine and design these original dresses, Air France teamed up with Xavier Ronze, Head of the costume design workshops at the Paris Opera Ballet. The costume designer created these designs from the iconic design pieces that have marked the company’s history and heritage.

Air France naturally chose the Galeries Lafayette, a temple of fashion in the heart of Paris, to showcase this original dress collection as part of its anniversary celebrations. From September 28th to October 10th 2023, it retraced its legendary history and high-flying elegance in an aim to go forward and embrace the future in the 12 windows of the famous store. The dresses are displayed among a selection of some of the finest vintage Air France paraphernalia and the best of the airline’s current pieces, to highlight 90 years of in-flight comfort, legendary aircraft, designer uniforms, in-flight dining, and design.

The Air France 90th anniversary campaign was rolled out in the airline's 10 key markets between October and November 2023. The campaign was particularly well received, with exceptional approval scores of between 88% and 97% in these key markets. Advertising recognition scores were also above the norm.

The campaign outperformed in the "France", "elegance" and "modernity" categories, 3 key factors within the framework of international awareness work and the establishment of the new territory.

From a strategic point of view, it has proved its relevance in supporting Air France's premiumization strategy, since 7 to 9 out of 10 people consider that it gives the image of a premium airline and a top-of-the-range experience.

In just two months, opinion of Air France has risen by an average of 4 points in these strategic markets.

In 2023, Air France welcomed 27% more visitors and achieved the highest turnover in its history.