Styles and Trends in the Corporate Wear Market

Now in our 150^th year in the industry, we like to think we’ve learned a thing or two about the corporate wear market!

Our unique partnership with Double TWO shirt-makers ensures we have high quality shirt and blouse production on our doorstep. What better way to bring the latest design trends into a corporate setting than to partner with a fashion retailer/wholesaler?

The emergence of ‘dress down Friday’ from America in the late 90’s was a major influence in the way people dressed for the office and had a strong effect on the corporate wear market with requests for polos, sweatshirts and chinos. But we are now seeing a return to smart suit dressing, with trends of late leaning towards a more close-fitting style of tailoring, creating a sharp, sophisticated look for the wearer.

Continual fabric innovation opens up new avenues all the time, allowing us to offer added performance to the customer. There will always be a need for diverse levels of uniform requirement and the excitement is in offering a vision that the customer may not have considered.

The internet has become an invaluable tool on which to view fashion in other countries. We undertake comparison shopping on a regular basis and visit trade shows, but sometimes just keeping your eyes open when you’re out is the best way to spot something unique that fits the image of your customer. Brand identity is a much bigger part of a company’s requirements these days, so finding a unique slant is great.

People are very aware of what is on the high street. If they’re wearing a uniform 9-5, 5 days a week they want to feel happy in it. So workwear not only has to feel good, but also look good. There’s no reason why it can’t be on-trend but it’s also important that it doesn’t date during its lifetime.

Overall, workwear design is about solving a concern. The solution needs to work continually over the timescale of the contract. The focus should always be on quality of design and whether it meets the needs for which it is intended.

When we begin designing uniform, we always chat to those who will be wearing it to find out what their role entails. For example, a suiting fabric might need additional stain resistance or a jersey might need high-wicking properties due to the demands of the role. Until you walk in someone’s footsteps you can’t envisage completely what they have to achieve on a daily basis in their work.

Take a look at some of our corporate wear styles in further detail here.