Travellers heading from London to New York can now experience the transatlantic trip in sublime comfort aboard 'Miss Sunshine' (as Virgin Atlantic’s new A330 aircraft has been dubbed) in the much-awaited Upper Class Suite.
The airline’s in-house design team joined forces with London-based studio Pengelly Design for the seating and with VW+BS for the bar and interior elements. The super-shiny, futuristic space comes complete with Swarovski Crystal embellishments, mood lighting, and a hefty dose of the Virgin colour palette.
Four years in the making, the sleek suites feature elegant leather seats that each conveniently have their own aisle access, beds that are longer than any other airline’s, frosted Perspex passenger divides for light and privacy, and easy access storage solutions. Meanwhile a gleaming bar, which is separate from the cabin, provides a space to mingle with other passengers.
In keeping up with our digital age, the team has ensured we will never have to go without. A programme called AeroMobile, allows passengers to use their own mobile phones in the air. Even better, the new entertainment system is smartphone, tablet and USB compatible, giving passengers the choice to read, watch or listen to their own media.
The re-designed cabin will also soon be available on the Mumbai service, from October this year. Meanwhile, the Virigin team is currently working on resizing and tweaking the Upper Class Suite to fit their 787 Dreamliners, which is due for delivery in 2015.
Four years in the making, the sleek suites feature elegant leather seats that each conveniently have their own aisle access, beds that are longer than any other airline’s, frosted Perspex passenger divides for light and privacy, and easy access storage solutions
A gleaming bar, which is separate from the cabin, provides a space to mingle with other passengers
A programme called AeroMobile, allows passengers to use their own mobile phones in the air, while the new entertainment system is smartphone, tablet and USB compatible, giving people the choice of reading, watching or listening to their own media
-
This cult Los Angeles pop-up restaurant now has a permanent addressChef Brian Baik’s Corridor 109 makes its permanent debut in Melrose Hill. No surprise, it's now one of the hardest tables in town to book
-
French bistro restaurant Maset channels the ease of the Mediterranean in LondonThis Marylebone restaurant is shaped by the coastal flavours, materials and rhythms of southern France
-
How ethical is Google Street View, asks Jon Rafman in CopenhagenIn 'Report a Concern - the Nine Eyes Archives' at Louisiana Museum of Art, Copenhagen, Jon Rafman considers technology's existential implications
-
How to elevate a rental with minimal interventions? Charu Gandhi has nailed it with her London homeFocus on key spaces, work with inherited details, and go big on colour and texture, says Gandhi, an interior designer set on beautifying her tired rental
-
The Stuff That Surrounds You: Inside the home of designer Michael AnastassiadesIn The Stuff That Surrounds You, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. In this episode, we step inside one of the most considered homes we've ever seen, where Anastassiades test drives his own creations
-
Francis Sultana and Roberto Ruspoli’s Greco-Roman-inspired furniture feels fresh and contemporaryA new collection, launching at David Gill Gallery in London, presents furniture and decorative pieces inspired by Mediterranean villas, French art and Etruscan engraving
-
The new office of the Italian embassy in London is a love letter to the country’s creativityWallpaper* takes a peek inside Casa Italia, the new Italian embassy in London, designed by our long-time collaborator Nick Vinson
-
Sophie Smallhorn’s plywood tables for Uncommon Projects are colourful and modularThese modular tables by the artist and the plywood specialist play with colour for function, fun and flexibility
-
American vision meets British craft in Billy Cotton’s new collaboration with Soane BritainYes, there’s rattan, but the lauded New York designer also brought in brass, oak and more. ‘There’s a sort of alchemy to these materials,’ he says
-
A new coffee table book proves that one designer’s trash is another’s treasureThe Rizzoli tome, launching today (16 September 2025), delves into the philosophy and process of Retrouvius, a design studio reclaiming salvaged materials in weird and wonderful ways
-
Welcome to Salt, a London hair salon-turned-immersive audio experienceStyling meets sound design at Salt’s second London outpost, a high-concept space by Unknown Works designed to be heard as much as seen
