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Note
No. 5688
22 October 2001
Note to Correspondents
UNITED
NATIONS GUIDES RECEIVE NEW DESIGNER OUTFITS FROM ITALIAN FASHION
HOUSES
New
Look Provides Opportunity to Welcome Visitors Back to UN Headquarters,
as Tour Operations Resume after 11 September Attacks
The United Nations is receiving new uniforms for its tour
guides from Mondrian, the renowned Italian fashion house.
Mondrian is producing two full sets of uniforms for each United
Nations tour guide in New York and Geneva over the next three
years.
The uniforms are complemented with shoes designed and produced
by another Italian company, Valleverde, which is donating
the footwear to the United Nations guides for a period of
three years. (See Press Release PI/1349 of 22 May 2001.)
The
tens of thousands of people who visit the United Nations each
month will see the guides' stylish new look beginning on United
Nations Day -- 24 October. The uniforms will be unveiled at
a media launch at United Nations Headquarters in New York
at 1:00 p.m. that day. The guided tours operation at United
Nations Headquarters will mark its fiftieth anniversary in
2002.
The United Nations, one of New York City's premier tourist
destinations, had to curtail its guided tour operation in
the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United
States. Heeding the call of New York City's Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani, in his speech to the General Assembly on 1 October,
for a return to normalcy, the United Nations resumed its regular
guided tours on 11 October. The debut of the new uniforms
on the occasion of United Nations Day provides the opportunity
to welcome visitors back to the Organization's Headquarters
with a fresh new look.
The guides' four-piece uniform includes a skirt, jacket, blouse
and scarf for the female guides and a suit, shirt and tie
for the male guides. The receipt of the uniforms by the United
Nations includes, for the first time, a maternity outfit.
"We are very pleased that Mondrian and Valleverde will be
helping us celebrate the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of
guided tours by providing our wonderful guides with a new
look", says Shashi Tharoor, Interim Head of the United Nations
Department of Public Information. "And what better way to
celebrate UN Day than to have the guides who, after all are
'our ambassadors to the public', introduce the new outfit."
Marina
Meneghetti de Camillo, an Ambassador of the Republic of San
Marino, facilitated the conclusion of the agreement between
Mondrian and the United Nations on the uniforms. She said
it was a unique opportunity for a fashion house to enhance
the image of the United Nations tour guides. Mirella Bizzini
Solignani, owner and President of Mondrian, said the company
was delighted by the challenge that the partnership represented,
and hoped to provide "a dynamic and appealing look for this
highly visible group of young people". Armando Arcangeli,
President of Valleverde, said the shoes were designed to match
the new uniforms and were both fashionable and comfortable.
At United Nations Headquarters, guided tours are conducted
every day of the year, except on Thanksgiving Day, the year-end
holidays, weekends in January and February, and some days
during high-level meetings of the General Assembly. During
the hour-long lecture tour, guides answer many questions about
the role of the United Nations in current events and describe
the unique collection of artwork on display throughout the
tour route. The Guided Tours Unit, part of the Department
of Public Information, offers tours in more than 20 languages.
In Geneva, tours in 18 languages are offered seven days a
week from April to October and five days a week from November
to March.
Since the beginning of the tour operation in 1952, more than
37 million visitors have taken a guided tour at United Nations
Headquarters. In Geneva, almost 3 million visitors have toured
the Palais des Nations since 1976.
Media representatives are invited to attend the launch on
24 October and to join a short private guided tour afterwards.
Journalists who do not already have UN accreditation, must
obtain special passes. Please contact the Media and Accreditation
Unit at tel: (212) 963-6934; fax: (212) 963-4642.
For
more information, please contact: Helene Hoedl, Guided Tours
Unit, New York, tel: (1) 212-963-3242, fax: (1), e-mail: hoedl@un.org,
or visit www.un.org/tours, Victor Fernandez, Visitors' Service,
Geneva, tel: (41) 22-917-4894, e-mail: presse_geneve@unog.ch,
or visit www.unog.ch/visit/visiten.htm.
*
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