Since the beginning of this month, when Air New Zealand revealed its new "concept" uniform, the controversy has not stopped. Created by Kiwi fashion designer Trelise Cooper, it's been described as "drag queen Barbie": a pink base overlaid with black koru curls. One flight attendant said it resembled the look sported on the airline's annual themed flight to Sydney's gay Mardi Gras festival.
But now the grumbles have (as usual) entered the Arena Of Political Correctness, with a Maori academic complaining the designs are disrespectful to traditional Maori symbols! Canterbury University Maori and Indigenous School head Rawiri Taonui says the Maori symbols on the uniforms each had different meanings and should not be randomly mixed together. He said businesses should consult more with Maori when they used symbols with special significance.
For crying out loud! Maoridom needs to face the reality that not EVERYthing in NZ pivots around their culture. The fern frond shape was used in the clothing design because it's the stylised Air New Zealand logo, NOT as a forelock-tug to a particular ethnic group! Let's just stick with the real issue and sidestep the PC swamp: the suggested uniform design is crap and needs to be reworked if it's to represent our country to the world.
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