A doll collection owned by a Young resident is currently being exhibited at the Qantas Club at Sydney airport as part of the airline’s 95th birthday celebrations.
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The exhibition of 44 Barbie and Ken dolls - all wearing their own bespoke Qantas uniforms - was recently unveiled by local resident Trevor Wilmott-Potts on behalf of his late partner John Wilmott-Potts.
The collection was a labour of love put together by John, a former Qantas long haul flight attendant who put together the uniforms over a 22 year period and matched them to Barbie and Ken dolls from a similar era.
It showcases the changing fashions of the times from the 1920s, when open cockpit flying meant Qantas pilots wore flying googles and leather clothing to stay warm, to the flamboyant prints of the “air hostess” uniforms during the 70s.
The dolls were originally used as part of a travelling interactive history lesson called ‘Stitches in Time’ that John Willmott-Potts delivered to schools and libraries in rural NSW.
He passed away in 2010 and donated his collection to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney.
Qantas recruited the world’s most iconic plastic couple to model its uniforms from across the decades as part of its 95th birthday celebrations.
In doing so, they asked Australian born, Paris-based designer, Martin Grant to create a mini version of the current Qantas uniform that was launched last year to update the collection.
The airline will gift the new pieces to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences to add to the collection.
John was Trevor's partner and they lived together in Young from 1988 until his death in 2010.
Trevor was invited by Qantas to attend the exhibition, flying him to Sydney and home again for the unveiling.
"It was absolutely wonderful," Trevor said.
"There had been only one new design of the Qantas uniform since John died and they had a French designer make the new design."
Trevor said he felt really proud to present John's much-loved collection to the world.
"I know he'd be looking down and he'd be very proud," he said.
"It was really good for him to be recognised after all the hours he put into it.
"I couldn't tell you how many, it was a lot of hours. He started doing it in 1988."
Qantas Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs executive, Olivia Wirth said the collection was very special.
“The fact that a former Qantas crew member personally created these uniforms as a hobby shows the passion our people have for the airline,” she said.
“There are some eye catching uniforms that form part of our 95 year history, including the bright green and blue floral patterned Pucci dresses from the mid to late 1970s, to the bomber jackets with fur trimmed collars worn by Qantas pilots before the second World War. Special mention to the Yves Saint Laurent flight attendant uniform from the late 80s with its oversized shoulder pads and heavy gold trim that was right on trend during that era”.
