Photo courtesy of Braniff International.
A fashion show highlighting Braniff International and its designer uniforms will be held in March at the Alexander Mansion in East Dallas.
The show, hosted by the Dallas Woman’s Forum, will be presented by David Preziosi, a Braniff Airways Foundation board member and executive director of the Texas Historical Foundation, according to a press release.
The program will include the history of Braniff, its focus on design and marketing and a mini fashion show displaying the airline’s flight attendant uniform designs from Emilio Pucci and Halston. Between 1965 and 1974, Pucci designed six collections of uniforms for Braniff’s customer contact personnel. Halston was commissioned to create a line for Braniff in 1976.
Though brothers and founders Paul Revere Braniff and Thomas Elmer Braniff formed their first venture, Paul R. Braniff, Inc., in Oklahoma in 1928, they later founded Braniff Airways, Inc., in 1930. The airline moved its headquarters to Dallas Love Field in 1942.
Braniff International is celebrating its 95th year of public service in 2023.
Braniff Airways Foundation preserves the history of the airline and advocates for Braniff buildings in danger of demolition. It was established by Richard Ben Cass, and the group now curates the Braniff International Heritage Archives, which was created in 1972.
The archival collection has more than 100 million pages of historical and corporate materials and records; 40,000 collectible items; 500,000 photos, slides and electronic images; large-scale company models and signs; and more than 1,000 crew uniforms.
Proceeds from the event, scheduled for March 11, will go toward the restoration of the historical Alexander Mansion on Ross Avenue.
This is not the first time fashion has been used to fundraise for renovation projects.
The mansion, designed by Sanguinett & Staats of Forth Worth, was built for C.H. Alexander and his family in 1904 for a cost of $125,000.
The Dallas Woman’s Forum, founded in 1906, made the mansion its headquarters in 1930.
