“Designer uniforms for pizza chain staff”

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 02:08 AM PDT

By Cheche V. Moral

If Giorgio Armani designed the uniforms, wouldn't you be enticed into becoming a cop, too?

We probably wouldn't switch careers that quickly, but yes, maybe we'd consider it. But first, we'd have to move to the Italian fashion capital of Milan, where the carabinieri (police) reportedly wear uniforms with the stamp of the bronzed global fashion god that is Mr. Armani.

In the Philippines, in the fast-food industry, the executives of a pizza chain claim they've had a sharp increase in the number of job applicants - some coming from other chains - who simply said they want to wear the restaurant's new uniform.

Earlier this year, Greenwich started to spiff up its managers and dining crew in uniforms by Filipino fashion designer Randy Ortiz. It's part of the chain's massively successful 'Level Up!' campaign that also included store renovations and tweaking of the menu to meet the changing tastes of its target market - the young independents or 'yindies'.

Ortiz is probably not the most obvious choice for the job. While he's one of the most successful designers of his generation, his name was built on menswear, with his own brand of quirky style, and a romantic look that's coveted by big-name show-biz celebrities.

Certainly he's not known for uniforms.

But the gamble seems to have paid off for his clients. The Greenwich staff is quite happy, and if you believe the claim, the look is effective enough that it's fueling an exodus from rival restaurants.

Ortiz's challenge was how to sell the food with "fashion as a tool".

The designer, who has a penchant for mixing colours, had to rein in his sensibilities, so that the uniforms would complement the already colourful store interiors.

The order was "to translate the brand into fashion", says Ortiz. "It's not just the basic polo."

When he started work, the chain has already begun transforming some of its 200 branches into "fast-casual" stores, an upgraded look that has essentially turned them into the Starbucks of pizza chains: upholstered chairs in place of hard plastic ones, cushy lounge seats, Team Manila graphics, even free Wi-Fi in some stores that encouraged yindies to hang and chat.

Yindies, marketing director Luis U. Velasco III clarifies, aren't to be confused with yuppies. While the latter are typically in corporate garb - suit, tie, wingtips, the works - yindies are the casual, no-less-successful types who prefer to do their work in jeans and sneakers.

Ortiz didn't veer too far away from the pistachio-green signature colour of the chain. He merely used red as accent colour and paired it with beige and other neutrals - gray tops with red collar, for instance, for the senior staff, the store and area managers.

The dining crew's shirts are casually rolled up past the elbows with a brown knit vest worn over it, setting off the more relaxed ambience of the now 70 fast-casual stores nationwide.

The designer's distinct marks are there - classic stitching and tuxedo pleating, for instance. To complement the red accents, he made sure the female managers' shoes are also bright red.

"We want to make the experience complete. It's not just the food and environment, but also the people serving you," says Michelle Pador, PR and corporate affairs manager.

"It also boosts the morale of the team," adds marketing manager Perpy Sembrana-Dorego. "Some cried and were emotional that the company is investing in the uniforms."

The project took eight long months, says Ortiz, who has had to work with the brand's manufacturer in China. A stickler for detail, he didn't just entrust his sketch with his client; his workshop did the prototypes and fabric specifications.

He's now designing the uniforms for the delivery crew.

Velasco assures, however, that despite the cosmetic upgrade, the cost hasn't been passed on to diners.

"Our prices are still the same. We're still accessible," he says.