Lhe energy conservation plans, which are spreading throughout the company, have transformed certain corners of the open space into mini-Siberia. We’re exaggerating a little, but near the window and far from the heating, when the temperature drops below 19 degrees, the employee is likely to feel thermal discomfort which could possibly disrupt the accomplishment of his professional tasks – according to the National Institute for Research and Safety, the ideal temperature at work would be between 21 and 23 degrees. When you work mainly on computer tools, it is not always easy to warm up.
Hence the diffusion of a new accessory that has become almost essential in the company: the light down jacket, popularized by the Japanese brand Uniqlo, and its sleeveless variant, sometimes worn under the suit jacket. To which are added turtlenecks, double socks, scarves, possibly mittens. Beyond the purely pragmatic aspect of preserving body heat, this “Arctic casual” style also has a managerial scope, making it possible to disseminate a certain number of messages. top-down. We remember Elisabeth Borne, the former prime minister, chairing a meeting in a down jacket, to express all her dedication to fighting global warming (yes, it is better – 2 degrees in the office than + 1.5 degrees in the ‘atmosphere).
For the “leader in a down jacket”, promoter of small eco-citizen gestures, clothing serves primarily to demonstrate a form of exemplarity. In the age of corporate social responsibility, the boss is always the one who must be cooler than the others – and, consequently, show it. But that’s not all. This multi-layered style, which is traditionally adopted by architects alternating between design offices and the mud of construction sites, sends a more prosaic message: the one who wears it becomes, through the signifying power of a simple piece of locker room, a field manager, close to those who do the work, capable of navigating with ease from one end of the production chain to the other, or even getting his hands dirty, if necessary.
A human like any other
In this way, the leader in the down jacket expresses his sincere desire for transversality, not always easy to communicate: if he is cold, it is because he is a human like the others, and not a demigod perched on the air-conditioned Olympus of the organization chart. In this, the leader in the down jacket has something sympathetic, testifying to an era where clothing is no longer there to mark hierarchical differences, but to abolish them, both within the company and between professions – the down jacket is also that of the florist, the butcher, the Rungis wholesaler.
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