How has the corona-related home office influenced our business clothing. Alexander Davaroukas explains in an interview.
Has the corona pandemic influenced business fashion in the long term? For many months, working from home has banished suits and fancy costumes to the farthest corner of their closets. Instead, loungewear became a real hype. “Corona has now greatly accelerated the relaxation of the dress code,” says Alexander Davaroukas, one of the three founders of the bespoke clothing manufacturer Monokel Berlin. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, he reveals how the importance of business clothing has changed as a result of the pandemic and why “the line between office and leisure fashion is becoming more and more blurred”.
How has business clothing changed during the months of working from home in the pandemic?
Alexander Davaroukas: Due to the corona pandemic, the main question arose: “Why do we dress differently in the office than in our everyday life outside the office?” In many industries, shirt or blouse and suit or costume were considered the norm that was simply not questioned for a long time. Even those who had video conferences in the “Pre-Corona” home office have dressed themselves appropriately for the dress code as a matter of course and thought nothing of sitting in their kitchen in tights and pumps or a tie and jacket. Corona has now greatly accelerated the relaxation of the dress code, which actually began much earlier.
Many are now questioning the dress code. Many find it uncomfortable to wear an imposed office wardrobe at home. However, many do not want to do without a suitable wardrobe completely – and neither should they. Business clothing also gives you a certain amount of psychological support. It supports and gives security and strength. So we cannot observe a complete abandonment of business clothing. What we observe, however, is that people rather wear what they feel like.
This also includes a daring combination of colors and patterns, but also casual cuts and fabrics. We see here that workwear is increasingly merging with everyday clothing. But that doesn’t mean that we’re all jogging around at once. The post-corona dress code is rather what we feel and what we simply want to wear that day, combined with loose, pleasant cuts and fabrics, combined with pattern and color combinations according to our mood.
Do we now wear it pieces more often in the office that are also suitable for everyday use and more practical?
Davaroukas: Suitability for everyday use and practicality play a much more important role in the selection of our office clothing today. The boundaries between office and leisure fashion are becoming more and more blurred and accordingly the individual items of clothing also have to meet several criteria. Blouse or shirt, cardigan and scarf are suddenly being replaced by turtlenecks that will take you through even the most conservative rooms, but perform just as well on the playground or in the restaurant.
What is your advice to the business woman and what is your advice to today’s business man?
Davaroukas: To critically deal with yourself and the matching wardrobe and not buy apparently it-pieces from all self-proclaimed influencers that are worn three times, only to discover that Photoshop and paid advertising do not go hand in hand with personal style. No matter how well the algorithms know us now.
We will never be free from external influences, but those who seriously deal with themselves and their wardrobe will find it easier to dress appropriately for the day. That is not to say that you should just wear what is closest in the morning, but rather recognize the power of clothes for yourself and see it as an extension of your inner self. Clothing can help us to change our mood, make phone calls more confidently, leave the house more motivated and slip into desired roles. Stupid who doesn’t use that.
Are there absolute no-gos when it comes to business clothing?
Davaroukas: One of the best side effects of the pandemic is that “self-care” is now known to everyone and is actually practiced and not just preached. I am sure that comfortable footwear is part of this and I am delighted that, after the restructuring, Birkenstock is now recognized even in the most fashionable circles. But feet can and should be packed in the workplace.
It should go without saying that jogging pants should only be found on the sports field and that the pajamas that give the wearer the seriousness necessary to survive in the workplace has yet to be invented. So the no-gos remain unchanged.
Men who wear a black jacket with a white poplin shirt, washed blue jeans and cognac-colored brogues should – no, have to – be sent home to change. The same applies to women who wear yoga pants or leggings with UGG boots at work.
What are the absolute evergreens in business clothing?
Davaroukas: The OCBD shirt – the Oxford cloth button-down shirt – is a classic that has always worked and always will. The shirt was extremely popular in the United States until the 1960s. It can be easily combined with all sorts of pieces – with a jacket or suit as well as with jeans or chinos. And if you can’t part with your shirt on vacation, you can even wear it with your swimming trunks.
The dark blue, single-breasted suit is also an evergreen and the perfect “dress-up, dress-down” item of clothing – formal with a white shirt, tie and black oxfords or loosened up with a turtleneck and sneakers or casual with a denim shirt or polo shirt and loafers. If you are clever when it comes to choosing fabrics, you can even wear the jacket individually with jeans or chinos.
Whatever goes, raw selvedge blue jeans are. Selvedge comes from self-edged. This stands for the original selvedge of the fabric, which was woven on shuttle looms until the 1950s. Raw simply means that the jeans have not been washed and are therefore much more formal.
The turtleneck sweater, which has always been a must for me in my wardrobe, is finally getting the recognition it deserves thanks to home office. At the latest when you realize that all the other participants in the conference have their video on and you are still sitting on the sofa in your sleep shirt, you will appreciate his services. Both women and men suddenly look dressed, even when you have run out of time to put on trousers.
What will the business clothing of the future look like, and especially after Corona?
Davaroukas: It was not suddenly agreed that all dress codes would be eliminated across industries. The suit remains the most important piece of clothing in a man’s wardrobe. It becomes even more important now that we’re not stuck in the “five days a week suit” hamster wheel. Something has changed in people: You can no longer hide behind the duty of dress code and hand out business cards in ill-fitting, outdated suits. Nowadays we think a lot more about what makes a good suit and what it means for you.
In addition, men enjoy being able to draw on a repertoire that is as varied as women have been doing for a long time. Combine bright colors and patterns, use soft fabrics. Today we wear what we feel and what we want to express. We won’t find a generic definition of workwear. The yoga teacher will continue to act differently than the lawyer and those who work in sales have different expectations of their clothes than those who work in the trade. But one thing is different today: the variations are wider and everything that is authentic is allowed.