Year in Review: Top Airline Amenity Kits of 2015
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APEX Insight: Over the past 12 months, we’ve looked at countless trends affecting the passenger experience: Leading-edge tech, wacky patents, fun food concepts and hot cabin designs. Here, we recognize some of the coolest amenity kits enjoyed by airline passengers in 2015.
R is for Retro
An impossible trend to miss in 2015 was the “throwback,” and we’re not talking about the social media hashtag. Many legacy carriers have been invoking memories of flight’s golden era in their marketing efforts.
Air France‘s new business class, La Premiere, has already won a lot of style points, so the new retro-patterned amenity kits (in 4 colours, changing every few months) are like the cherry on top. Air France says the bags are modeled after kits they once presented to Concorde passengers. They contain Clarins skincare products and have historic images printed on the inside.
Across the pond, American Airlines has spent 2015 doling out a series of collector’s “heritage” amenity kits that revive the colors and logos of the numerous airlines that have combined over the years to make AA what it is today. A press release from the airline states that the kits “serve as a reminder of American’s beginnings and the many men and women who forged together to form the world’s largest airline.”
B is for Bold
Buzz Products is a live-out-loud product design agency from Australia and Qantas is the country’s flagship carrier, so it’s only natural that the two have been partnering for years on passenger comfort. In late 2014, the pair introduced new men and women’s business class kits for long-haul. The new kits are a refresh of the Kate Spade- and Jack Spade-designed kits first introduced back in 2012. These beautiful gifts have been massively popular – especially the women’s version – due in large part to the bold colours and geometric shapes used in the design of the bag.
D is for Discovery
JetBlue‘s much-lauded business class, Mint, launched in 2014. But it was 2015 that saw more of the airline’s fleet being upgraded to feature the cabin class and more passengers trying it out. JetBlue partnered with a young, creative beauty company called Birchbox on men and women’s amenity kits. The kits contain a variety of items, each from a different brand, all hand-picked by Birchbox beauty editors. By filling recycled cardboard kits with a variety of highly useful (if unorthodox) products from largely unknown suppliers, JetBlue and Birchbox have brought a true sense of discovery to the in-flight experience.
H is for Hipster
As far as world cities go, it doesn’t get much more hipster than Berlin. With a concentration of artists, designers, startups and a highly marketable cool factor, Berlin is where it’s at. Airberlin identified with its namesake city, and this year introduced unisex business class amenity kits. The sleek, black kits are presented in partnership with German fashion label Wunderkind (which means child prodigy), an internationally acclaimed ready-to-wear couture brand commonly using subtle play between structured, masculine pieces and soft, feminine shapes. The kits also feature Wunderkind lip balm, hand soap and body lotion.
M is for Modern
Though an airline has yet to claim it, the line of male and female, first and business class amenity kits developed jointly by WESSCO International and French design icon Philippe Starck is definitely one of the most intriguing we saw in 2015. First presented at WTCE in April, these luxury kits are the essence of modernity and represent a step change in design for amenity kits.
“A diverse palette of colors has been used in the collection, which consists of hard and soft versions of male, female and unisex kits. The elegance of the collection lies in the sobriety and timelessness of the design and the elegance of minimum,” says the WESSCO product release.
G is for Goodbye
This year, our industry says goodbye to the “godmother” of the airline amenity kit. Anita Gittelson, executive vice-president of WESSCO International announced her retirement on December 17, 2015.
Throughout her tenure with WESSCO International, Anita was a driving force behind hundreds of successful brand partnerships and award-winning amenity and comfort programs. She was a founding member of the Marine Hotel Association (MHA). And airlines such as American, United and Delta have trusted Anita and the WESSCO team to align their travel brand with chic designers and top cosmetic lines, creating indulgent and perfectly branded in-flight experiences.
We wish her a fun and relaxing retirement.
