The Museum of Flight’s new exhibition, Runway to Runway, is a delightful and insightful trip through the styles and stories that fashion flight attendant uniforms. 

Runway to Runway features 100 artifacts ranging from classic suits and skirts to capes and go-go boots and onward to today’s thoughtful neoclassic styles. Each uniform reflects the person who wore it, the purpose behind its design and the responsibilities carried out while it was worn. The interactives in the exhibit allow visitors to enhance their fashion sense with touchable fabrics, hands-on activities, like the proper way to tie a scarf, and fun puzzles to answer “What's in a Bag?” 

The exhibit is fully presented in English and Spanish, with partial presentation in additional languages. For the full list of languages offered, please visit the FAQs tab.

Runway to Runway opens April 25, 2026 and runs through January 18, 2027. The exhibit is free for Museum Members and included with general admission.

Buy Your Tickets Today

Runway to Runway is More Than Uniforms

Runway to Runway includes dozens of hats, handbags and scarves designed to complete the flight attendant’s ensemble. Runway to Runway also pulls back the curtain on the illusion of style to glimpse the racial barriers, sexism and ignored workers’ rights that challenged flight attendants on every flight. 

Runway to Runway introduces specific flight attendants through their stories, snapshots and uniforms. Welcome to the world of United Airlines’ first Black flight attendant, and meet one of the first Continental Airlines stewards, who began serving at a time when passengers simply didn’t know what to make of a male flight attendant. 

As flight attendants started to become the face of the airlines, air carriers hired famous fashion designers from New York, Paris, Milan and Hollywood to create new styles for the cabin crews, which helped brand their in-flight service as a unique and desirable experience. Some were modest, others were mod. Jean Louis, Roxane of New York, Mario Armond Zamparelli, Valentino, Emillio Pucci and Edith Head made their mark on everything from uniforms to accessories. Trending fabrics, vogue nouveau and bold colors to help the airlines stand out from one another. Runway to Runway shows the arc of past fashions and how designers respond to the flight attendant of today.

Uniforms 

Runway to Runway displays 13 flight attendant uniforms that served on eight different airlines, with many of them designer apparel from the 1960s and 1970s. The gallery collection includes ensembles like Emilio Pucci’s mod pink creation with coordinated dress, pants, and umbrella for Braniff International Airways in 1971; the lively yellow and blue Hughes Airwest uniform from the early Seventies that includes a brilliant cape, princess cut dress and knee-high yellow go-go boots; and the iconic United Airlines uniform from 1968 designed by Jean Louis and known as “The Skimmer.”

Bags and Purses

Airlines often provided flight attendants with special-issued suitcases, tote bags, and purses to match their uniforms. A selection of 11 distinctive bags in this collection include an Alaska Airlines carpet bag from 1966 that was part of its Golden Nugget Service inspired by 1890s fashion; a blue and yellow bag that was part of the new look for Hughes Airwest from 1971-1977 designed by Mario Armond Zamparelli; and a boldly patterned bag designed by Emilio Pucci for Braniff International Airways from 1966-1971.

Headwear

From yellow bucket hats and faux fur caps to futuristic, clear plastic helmets, hats offered a finishing touch to many iconic flight attendant uniforms. This collection displays 17 hats ranging from today back to a fetching design used by Western Air Express during the mid-1920s. Other headwear includes a Jean Louis designed faux fur cap worn with United Airlines’ all-season mix-and-match uniform collection from the early 1970s; a bright red hat designed by Yves Saint Laurent for Northwest Airlines and worn during the 1960s and early 1970s; and an extremely rare example of an Emilio Pucci clear plastic “RainDome” that was worn during Braniff’s famous “Air Strip” advertising campaign of the mid-1960s.

Scarves

Scarves allowed designers to compliment the uniforms with expressive patterns and compositions as individual works of art. A collection of 13 scarves shows how these functional designs are also suitable for framing. Examples include the multicolored geometric-patterned Hughes Airwest silk scarf from 1975; a 1984-85 Republic Airlines scarf with dark hues that subdue the optical effect of its linear patterns; and from 1975 a Pan American World Airways scarf that was part of a mix-and-match uniform designed by Academy Award-winning costumer Edith Head.

Interactive Displays

Visitors can enhance their fashion sense and curiosity with touchable fabrics, hands-on activities and fun puzzles like “What’s in a Bag?” and “How to Tie a Scarf.”


Runway to Runway Soundtrack

Corner Booth Club’s original soundtrack wraps the Runway to Runway exhibit in a warm, late-night glow. Lo‑fi grooves, Latin inflections, and subtle exotica rhythms create beat‑driven, mid‑century‑tinged soundscapes that feel like “warm beats, low lights” in a quiet room. 

Entirely instrumental, the trio—Kate Voss (keys, samples, vocal textures), Jason Goessl (bass, guitar), and Mike Underwood (drums, samples)—weaves gentle 12/8 pulses and modern production into music for the “corner booth”: intimate, unhurried, and deeply atmospheric. Composed specifically for The Museum of Flight’s Runway to Runway exhibit, the score echoes themes of travel, transition, and quiet momentum. It’s designed to accompany motion and observation as much as moments of pause, inviting visitors to settle in, listen closely, and drift with the steady forward motion of flight.

FAQs

How long will Runway to Runway be on exhibit?
The Runway to Runway exhibit opens Saturday, April 25, 2026 and closes Monday, January 18, 2027.

What languages is Runway to Runway presented in?
Runway to Runway is fully presented in a dual language format with English and Spanish (Latin America), with partial presentation in the following languages (in alphabetical order): Amharic, Arabic, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Tagalog, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

What airlines are featured in Runway to Runway?
The airlines featured in Runway to Runway are (in alphabetical order):

  • Alaska Airlines (uniform, bag, scarf)
  • Braniff International Airways (uniform, headwear, bag)
  • British Airways (headwear)
  • Continental Airlines (uniform, headwear, bag)
  • Delta Air Lines (scarf)
  • Eastern Air Lines (headwear)
  • Hughes Airwest (uniform, bag, headwear)
  • Midway Airlines (bag)
  • Northwest Airlines (uniform, headwear, scarf)
  • Pan Am (uniform, headwear, bag, scarf)
  • Qantas (bag, scarf)
  • Republic Airlines (headwear, scarf)
  • TWA - Trans World Airlines (uniform)
  • United Airlines (uniform, headwear, bag, scarf)
  • US Airways (scarf)
  • West Coast Airlines (headwear)
  • Western Airlines / Air Express (headwear, bag, uniform, scarf)

What designers are featured in Runway to Runway?
The designers featured in Runway to Runway are (in alphabetical order):

  • Lilli Ann (Western Airlines, 1955)
  • Oleg Cassini (TWA, 1955)
  • Elisa Daggs (TWA, 1968)
  • Dalton (TWA, 1968)
  • Halston (Braniff, 1966)
  • Edith Head (Pan Am, 1975)
  • Yves Saint Laurent (Northwest, 1960s-1970s and Qantas, 1985)
  • Don Loper (United, 1970 and Pan Am, 1964)
  • Jean Louis (United, 1968, 1970)
  • Omniform (Continental, 1977)
  • Nathalie Nicoli (Pan Am, 1955)
  • Emilio Pucci (Braniff, 1971)
  • Valentino (TWA, 1971)
  • Luly Yang (Alaska, 2020-Present Day)
  • Mario Armond Zamparelli (Hughes Airwest, 1971)

Sign up for updates about Runway to Runway programs and events.

You will not receive any other email from us unless already subscribed.