Dior, Balenciagia, and Other Forgotten Delights of ‘60s Air Travel
For his travel-inspired book series 24H, photographer Karl Hab has taken us on stunning one-day journeys through Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Paris, where he’s based. Now, he’s poured his various interests into the latest installment: 24H Air France, an homage to the French airline’s unbelievably chic history and produced by Studio Palatine.
When Hab started the 24H project in 2016 with Los Angeles, he pooled a medley of images that might not intuitively make sense in more traditional destination or travel photography books. “[Following a trip to Los Angeles in 2015,] I found myself with an abundance of photos of the city from diverse perspectives: from ground level to aerial shots, using different lenses and cameras,” he says of 24H’s origin story, adding that the opportunity to “showcase aspects not immediately apparent” was a huge inspiration for how the series eventually developed. “[The concept] offered a fresh perspective, portraying the city in a way unseen before, including soaring over these cities, capturing their most enchanting features from above.”
With 24H Air France, he’s turned the concept on its head while still remaining true to some of the founding ethos behind the series. For example, the production and photoshoot followed a sunrise-to-set timeline so that it still feels like a natural sibling to the first three books. And just like how previous editions featured unexpected and unusual locations and perspectives, Hab says that Air France allowed him access to parts of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle (the whole thing was shot there) that would otherwise be off-limits to passengers, like vacant planes and inside employee buildings.
But the overall visual storytelling for 24H Air France is totally different: This book, in celebration of the airline’s 90th birthday in 2023, isn’t about a single destination; instead, it’s about Air France’s rich flight attendant uniform design legacy.
In the book, you’ll find models dressed in archival pieces designed by renowned fashion houses like Dior, Balenciaga, and Nina Ricci in various parts of the airport, airplane, and the flying experience. The cover features winter suits by Cristóbal Balenciaga for Air France from 1969, which screams chic symmetry and authoritative minimalism. There’s a shot of three models dressed in Christian Lacroix pieces that were launched in 2005 but are still on the uniform rotation today. Another photo is of two models in the galley; one decked in a pale-blue Dior summer dress that debuted in 1962 – a very romantic take on airline uniforms. This was a notably groundbreaking design when it was first unveiled by then creative director Marc Bohan as if it were a haute couture garment.
True to Hab’s particular passion for aviation (surprise: he’s an aeronautical engineer!), however, there are also numerous images that focus on just the planes – aircrafts landing and taking off; control panels; the solar glow peeking into the cabin from the plane windows. It offers a stylish meditation on not just the technological mastery involved in flying but also the beauty in the product. Hab admits to geeking out on seeing a brand-new A350 arriving at CDG from the Airbus factory in Toulouse during the shoot. And he was especially thrilled with getting to shoot the eagle-like silhouette of the Concorde, something that Hab says was mandatory for the book. “I couldn't imagine the project without it,” he adds. “We conducted the photo shoot beneath the exhibited Concorde at CDG Airport, and the results are truly remarkable, something I take great pride in.”
For us traveling commercial these days, it might be difficult to find charm and appreciation for the air travel experience (Delays! Lost luggage! Sky-high prices, Oh my!), but 24H Air France reminds us of the beauty in the industry, if you know what to pay attention to.
