Major Industries are Shifting the Definition of What’s Formal
The line between formal wear and everything else has become quite blurred. While some of us may dream of working at Vogue one day, where supposedly anything goes in regards to clothing, others see themselves in careers in which business professional attire is required (at least for now). The differentiation between what’s “appropriate” to wear in certain situations has been made even more complicated by the modern shift in business wear fashion at some of the highest levels. From Silicon Valley millionaires ditching suits for denim to brands such as OFF-WHITE making streetwear a hot designer commodity, younger generations are bending the rules when it comes to the idea of workplace fashion.
In many major industries, the notion that a plain black pantsuit is needed to gain respect and exhibit expertise has been pushed aside. Instead, several large companies have recognized the value that loosening the reins of dress code can have on both employee production and client connection. In 2019, Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs shifted to a lenient dress code allowing employees to dress as they see fit relative to the client. Sach’s was able to recognize how the element of dress can open themselves up to a market of clients that may not necessarily associate with men on Wall Street who wear boring suits (I apologize to all my finance majors, please keep in mind that I still want to marry a Carlson boy).
The idea of using fashion to enhance a business’s market and audience is one that is also being utilized in sports leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and most recently the NHL. Players in these leagues are leaving the pregame suits behind to brand their own style of dress - creating both a following and a side hustle to increase their own personal value. While the NHL has gone back to the mandatory suits post pandemic bubble, many of the league's top players including Auston Matthews, forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs, have been vocal about how a looser dress code can connect fans to players and create a new faucet in the business of sports.
If one thing has fast tracked the push of casual business wear, it has been COVID-19. With working from home becoming a new normal, so has wearing a blouse with sweatpants and slippers. Athlesiure brands have seen a spike in sales, with some reporting growth of 6% in the past year - a year in which many of their brick and mortar stores were closed for a period of time. The rising acceptance of athletic apparel outside of the gym has resulted in high fashion beginning to assimilate to the athleisure aesthetic. High end streetwear has been seen on runways in recent years, and companies such as Supreme and Essentials have centered their entire inventory around it. A recent study by Hypebeast, a contemporary fashion platform, reported that about 54% of people surveyed would buy a streetwear item in the $100 to $500 range. The reasoning behind this ranges from the quality of the item to the purpose for which it is being worn. There is no doubting the correlation between casual wear being socially acceptable in most situations and the rise of high end streetwear.
With the number of Millennials and Gen Z’s in the workforce increasing (bye, bye Baby Boomers), the trend of casual business wear will likely not only continue, but be implemented into the status quo. So, as you shop for your 1st post-grad job, make sure to add a solid pair of denim and a trending hoodie into the mix (obviously with the justification that it’s an investment piece)!
