Tourist centre staff to dress Manrique style

Workers at Lanzarote’s CACTs will once again be seen wearing the uniforms that César Manrique designed for them.

Announcing the tender to provide the garments, tourist councillor Ángel Vásquez described the uniforms as “works of art that deserve to be admired again; another example of the talent and creativity of Manrique”.

Manrique’s designs for the tourist centres can be seen as an early example of branding, with each centre having its own distinctive logos and designs, all under the umbrellas of a broader vision. Almost everything at the CACTs, from the lighting to the ashtrays and litter bins, adheres to Manrique’s design principles.

The uniforms are a good example. Manrique intended that every worker at the centres – guides, waiting staff, shop assistants and cleaners – should wear a uniform.

The red, black and white smocks worn by serving staff at the El Diablo restaurant in the Fire Mountains have the shape of a volcanic cone on the front, and the colours reflect the lava and flames of the site. Meanwhile, at the Cuevas de los Verde and the Cactus Garden, greens were chosen.

Staff at Jameos del Agua and Jardín de Cactus will wear striped uniforms, with the maître d’s in lilac and the waiters in orange. Waiters at Mirador del Río will wear blue, with the maître d’s in lilac.

New designs will be created for staff at the Castillo de San José restaurant and the Bar Picasso, in El Almacén, the Arrecife art centre co-founded by Manrique.

Many of the uniforms refer to Lanzarote styles, such as the cummerbund worn by men to support their lower backs during fieldwork, or the collarless patchwork shirts worn by the fishermen of La Graciosa.

The uniforms are also a clear reflection of Manrique’s artistic direction in his later years, when he began to focus on bold geometric patterns and colours for projects such as his Flags of the Cosmos.

Manrique himself was clearly a fan of functional workwear, often photographed in the blue overalls he wore when working in his studio. However, many of the designs for the CACTS uniforms have been updated over the years to offer more comfort for the workers.