SY Black Pearl

The world’s largest sailing yacht, all 106 meters of her, built in Holland under the project name Y712, required uniform for its crew. This included everyone from galley staff, interior, deck hands, officers and captains, as well as uniform to wear around the yard and locally whilst representing the build.

One of the main issues for the team tasked with procuring the uniform was to ensure the range catered for all of the environments the yacht would explore. This involved researching every material, style and brand that was fit for purpose. As the build was based in Holland, the challenge also included pulling together and presenting the global reach of brands and manufacturers available to us.

And given the stature of Black Pearl as one of the most technically advanced yachts in the world, using revolutionary techniques to minimise its carbon footprint, we needed to present an environmentally sound solution.

As this was such a large and diverse undertaking, we carried out a fact-finding exercise to establish the preferred brief of all key stakeholders – crew, officers and management. Using this brief, we explored and researched the most suitable and sustainable garments on the market.

Using our knowledge and market reach, we were able to present a number of viable options for testing followed by a series of on-site meetings to determine the preferred range for all areas. Working alongside Black Pearl’s interior team, we developed a range that could bring out the yachts character whilst being functional, practical, cost-effective, and importantly, sustainable.

We followed Black Pearl’s instruction and took inspiration from the design of the yacht as a whole and after a number of wearer trials and much sampling, the range of garments were signed off in November 2017 with a successful delivery being met prior to launch as agreed in 2018. We now continue to deliver Black Pearl’s uniform and maintain a superb relationship giving advice on new styles and innovations where relevant.