Lifestyle takes off: Bringing Maison Kitsuné onboard EVA Air with FORMIA
The collection includes pajamas in two colorways and two distinct amenity kits: a crossbody bag and a monogram motif pouch
FORMIA recently invited PAX International for an exclusive look at the amenity kit and pajamas collaboration between EVA Air and lifestyle brand Maison Kitsuné. The visits offered rare insight into how a global airline partnership is conceived, designed and brought to life—spanning brand strategy, product development and manufacturing.
This included a visit to FORMIA’s factory partner where the pajamas are produced, highlighting the craftsmanship and quality controls behind the premium product.
Trust proved central to the collaboration, shaping a seamless, culturally attuned passenger experience at the intersection of aviation, fashion and lifestyle.
The collaboration was developed as a close creative partnership, guided by Maison Kitsuné’s creative vision, with FORMIA translating this vision into an inflight-ready product, and EVA Air delivering a unique premium experience to its passengers.
The Maison Kitsuné universe
Maison Kitsuné is a French Japanese lifestyle brand founded in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki. Its universe merges fashion, music and café culture into a contemporary art de vivre expressed through Parisian refinement and Japanese precision. Leyla Pursharifi, Director of Special Projects at Kitsuné, played a central role on the EVA Air project and notes the brand’s identity, rooted in adaptability, as key to the project’s success.
“Our identity is guided by versatility—inspired by the fox, our founding symbol, known in Japanese folklore for its ability to transform,” Pursharifi tells PAX International. “That spirit of movement and adaptability is at the heart of everything we do: a Parisian attitude with Japanese accents, expressed in pieces designed for real, modern life.”
“Our collaboration with FORMIA goes back many years, and that long-standing relationship has built a strong foundation of trust and understanding,” Pursharifi adds. “They deeply understand how to translate our universe into the inflight environment while preserving the integrity of our brand, which made this partnership with EVA Air feel very natural.”
The monogram pouch complements the pajamas, offering a curated selection of skincare essentials and practical travel accessories
The inflight collection
The series launched on October 3, 2025, to coincide with EVA Air’s new Dallas Fort Worth route. Available in Royal Laurel Class on long-haul flights, the collection includes amenity kits and pajamas—demonstrating an integrated approach to extending brand experiences beyond the traditional kit.
“EVA Air’s collaboration with Maison Kitsuné reflects our recognition of the brand’s distinctive identity, which seamlessly blends French fashion with Japanese minimalism,” says EVA Air President Clay Sun. “Its emphasis on cross-cultural values, diversity, youthful energy, and a playful approach to everyday life resonates strongly with EVA Air’s commitment to delivering meaningful and memorable experiences to travelers around the world.”
The pajamas, available in black and light green with the embroidered fox motif, come in three sizes and are made from recycled materials.
Two distinct amenity kits accompany the pajamas: a fox-head crossbody bag and a monogram-patterned pouch with a shoulder-purse strap. Both include lip balm, lotion, a classic hydrating facial mist, alongside an eye mask, toothbrush, hair comb, a cable organizer and a foldable shopper bag.
The fox-head crossbody pouch pairs with the pajamas, featuring skincare essentials and practical travel accessories
Building bridges
EVA Air has historically collaborated with well-known European luxury houses. The long-term success of previous partnerships facilitated by FORMIA encouraged the airline to explore a younger, more culturally dynamic brand that resonates strongly in the Asia region and beyond.
“This collaboration is such a great prototype of a 360-degree partnership—not simply supplying a comfort kit but connecting the airline and its passengers to a brand with a rich lifestyle universe and multiple extensions,” Marisa Pitsch, Chief Marketing Officer at FORMIA, says. “With FORMIA acting as the bridge between the two worlds and helping each side understand the other’s brand universe.”
Design led by cultural fluency and functionality
The design process began with a deep study of both brand identities. Maison Kitsuné brings a Franco-Japanese aesthetic shaped by its fashion and café universe, while EVA Air is known for a refined premium cabin experience built around comfort, calmness and thoughtful service. FORMIA’s task was to bring these worlds together without losing what makes each distinct.
Ben Read, Chief Creative Director at FORMIA, says the design team started by identifying natural meeting points between the two brands, working in close partnership with Maison Kitsuné to ensure the brand’s creative direction translated seamlessly into EVA Air’s inflight environment, while allowing each item to function both onboard and beyond the aircraft
“That mediation is core to our design approach: respecting both identities and creating a product that feels cohesive, premium and meaningful for passengers,” Read says.
Each kit includes a shopper tote inspired by Maison Kitsuné’s shopper bags in retail stores. The sage color palette links back to EVA Air’s cabin design. The hardshell amenity kit structure includes gussets to prevent items from slipping out, and compartments that hold dental kits can double as makeup or passport pockets.
Production takes place with sustainable materials in a facility powered by on-site renewable energy that covers about 60 percent of total consumption, significantly reducing carbon impact.
For the pajamas, the starting point came from Maison Kitsuné’s retail silhouettes, with the brand and FORMIA working closely to adapt fit and detailing for comfort inflight, ease of changing onboard and sizing inclusivity. FORMIA created a fabric blend with renewable materials, aligning with Kitsuné’s cotton-rich apparel universe while offering comfort and durability.
Inspired by Maison Kitsuné’s retail silhouettes, the pajamas are redesigned for inflight comfort and inclusivity, featuring a durable fabric blend made with renewable materials
Life before the cabin
The factory partner, where the pajamas are manufactured, immediately signals a highly controlled, technology-driven operation. The multi-level factory is impeccably maintained, with natural light and greenery, and organized by function—from cutting and cleaning to sewing and finishing—creating an atmosphere that is calm and focused.
The tour began in the showroom where products for other globally recognized fashion brands and large-scale clients are displayed. The breadth of the showroom reflects both the caliber of the facility’s partners and the standards it consistently upholds.
Manufacturing unfolds through a balance of automation and skilled craftsmanship, aligned with the quality benchmarks FORMIA maintains with its long-term partners. From arrival, fabric never touches the floor: materials are cleaned and transported through the facility on a rail system to preserve hygiene and consistency.
The tour opened in the showroom displaying products for globally recognized fashion brands, highlighting the facility’s partnerships and consistently high standards
Quality control is integrated throughout. Fabrics are inspected using AI-assisted technology, supported by continuous human oversight to ensure consistency at scale. Approved materials move to cutting stations combining automation and skilled workers, before being hand-sewn and finished by trained teams.
Each garment undergoes a final inspection, with loose threads removed, inconsistencies corrected and the loungewear cleaned and steamed once more. The result is a finished product ready for wear, moving from factory floor to aircraft cabin.
FORMIA maintains an on-site presence overseeing production to ensure consistent quality across airline programs.
The new definition of luxury
One of the most compelling elements of this collaboration is its alignment with modern interpretations of luxury. Pitsch says premium travelers today, particularly those aged 20 to 55, define luxury differently today than they did decade ago.
“It is no longer defined only by logos, but by experience, culture, lifestyle and memory-making,” she explains.
Pursharifi says the EVA Air partnership brings the Kitsuné world into a new context.
“Strategically, this partnership allows us to better understand how the Kitsuné identity resonates in the travel space—supporting future ambitions across airport retail, hospitality and lifestyle destinations,” she notes.
PAX International Managing Editor Jane Hobson at the partner factory
A collaboration with room to grow
Pitsch says the relationship between Kitsuné and EVA Air continues to evolve, with several future directions under consideration. The trust established has created space for new ideas and deeper cultural storytelling.
More than a product launch, the program demonstrates how a shared purpose and deep trust can lead to an inflight experience that feels genuine, functional and meaningful to the modern traveler.
