By Monisha Hye, Jay Bingham, and Jade Lennon
Eurostar has revealed their new uniform, and comments have been lukewarm, at best.
The collection includes tailored trousers, skirts and Dr. Marten boots. The railway company has taken a more inclusive approach with their first ever gender-neutral uniform – allowing all staff to wear skirts or trousers regardless of their gender.
The new uniform was curated by French designer Emmanuelle Plescoff. The public got their first look of the uniform at Eurostar’s Gare Du Nord terminal in Paris. Eurostar Chief Executive, Gwendoline Cazenave commented on the collection, calling it “chic, elegant and iconic”.
However, the uniform has also received criticism for being too ‘woke’ – a term often used to negatively describe progressive changes in society. ‘Woke’ in this case has been directed particularly towards men wearing feminine attire; this is a relatively new sight, compared to women wearing trousers, which no longer surprises or angers people.
Are the uniforms unprofessional?
Some people argue that the change is unprofessional.
Anthony Bobb-Semple, a man in his mid-50s, believes that skirts for male employees detracts from the “grace and professionalism” that travellers expect from Eurostar.
Sara Said, 19, revealed a distaste for skirts in the workplace completely, saying, “I don’t think women should be wearing skirts either… it is more professional to be wearing trousers.”
The consensus, however, is that most people do not mind or pay much attention to the new uniforms at all. University student Samantha Akpan expressed this quite strongly, saying, “As long as I get to my destination, I really don’t care… I don’t even look at people.”
Customer service should be the priority
Most agree that the priority of the passengers is the quality of customer service and the ability to arrive at their destination in good time; as long as the staff look professional, they should be allowed to “choose what they want to wear”.
Eurostar is not the only company to unveil a gender-neutral uniform policy. British Airways did the same in January 2023 – male employees were allowed to wear skirts, makeup, and fake nails.
A worker for the airline, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said that they “haven’t flown with any colleagues who have worn the opposite gender’s uniforms”, suggesting that gender-inclusive policies only affects a minority of people.
Similarly, an anonymous friend of Akpan’s said that “gender-neutral people, they’re the minority”.
Across workplaces, employees continue to wear the uniform that aligns with their gender, and most passengers aren’t bothered by the change.
Akpan also provided an interesting opinion on companies’ shift to gender inclusivity. “It has to be genuine,” she said. “When the whole BLM (Black Lives Matter) thing happened, many companies were saying, ‘oh, we love black people’… when, in fact, loads of black employees did a survey and said they’ve had racist views and opinions directed towards them.”
This implies that Eurostar’s new policy did not emerge from a true desire to represent all genders, but to “pander” to the demands of the “new generation”.
William Sitwell, in a Telegraph article, wrote that the change of attire was madness. He criticised the new uniforms, which were designed to improve inclusivity, declaring that a “conductor’s job is to check my ticket not push his gender preference in my face”.
“This is a triumph of ego, a victory for the invidiously narcissistic self-identifier,” he wrote.
“The focus for Eurostar should be on delivering a smooth and pleasant train ride rather than shining a spotlight on the few members of staff who wish to strut down the platforms and through the carriages shouting about their genders, which serves no purpose – and is of no interest – to the traveller.
“By all means self-identify as a crayfish, be and wear what you like in your free time. But please, darling, not on the train.”
But chief of staff of the Eurostar group, Emmanuelle Scemama, told the Brussels Signal that the new look was “chic, elegant and iconic” and included “a twist you did not expect”.
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