Ronald and friends serve up a McChic makeover

LONDON: The skirts, chief people officer David Fairhurst noted solemnly, have a lovely A-line to them while the star pattern on the blouses and scarves "looks a bit like Louis Vuitton, don't you think?"

Whether Vuitton's logo was inspired by the golden arches or has ever been unveiled against the smell of egg McMuffins is unknown. But in April, in a more brightly lit and less size zero-biased environ than the Paris catwalks, McDonald's became the latest firm to give staff uniforms a designer makeover.

Bruce Oldfield, "who counts Sienna Miller and Jemima Khan as his clients," the McDonald's press release noted, has provided the fast food staff with a range of new uniforms, which will launch in the United Kingdom this month, that run the style gamut of functional to air stewardess chic. Oldfield, who specializes in couture, was a little taken aback by the commission - "McDonald's, I thought? Well, that's rather different!" - but such hesitation was a mere blip: "If Pierre Cardin designed the uniforms of the Paris roadsweepers, why not?"