Giles Deacon reimagines post-pandemic office workwear with IWG

British fashion designer Giles Deacon has teamed up with IWG, the world’s largest operator of office and flexible working spaces, to design workwear for the new hybrid working world following the pandemic.

The IWG x Giles capsule collection reimagines how people will dress for the office as working-from-home comes to an end and includes three separate prototype looks for male, female and non-binary.

The collection fuses comfortable clothing choices many have adopted at home with smarter attire shaped using in-depth consumer research from IWG, which reveals that workers want to return to smarter workwear to feel stylish and confident but without sacrificing comfort and the latest fashion trends.

This has resulted in a hybrid office-wear collection combining fashionable style, flattering silhouettes and softer tailoring to ensure “the wearer looks sharp but comfortable while at work”.

All fabrics in the collection are organic with poplins, soft needlecord, compact wool and cotton jerseys, moving away from traditional fabrics commonly worn pre-lockdown to allow workers to have more “considered choices” that are sustainable and have longevity.

The colour palette also moves from traditional black and white to a broader muted palette of charcoal greys alongside soft-washed navy and brown chosen to “invigorate strength and dependability of the wearer”. Alongside, calming colours like khaki and sand and brighter hues such as light blue used to help the wearer feel happy, confident and have authority.

Looks include an oversized bubble-style dress with a statement bow, a slouchy-style trouser suit and a stylish blazer and wide-leg shorts suit.

Commenting on the collection, Deacon said in a statement: “There has been a noticeable change in people’s relationship with clothes over the pandemic, and as a result, what we wear to the office has changed forever.

“The IWG x Giles capsule collection has been designed with the hybrid worker in mind, combining a smart business look with comfort. Every colour and fabric have been selected to make the wearer feel happy, calm, confident and determined wherever they may work.”

Giles Deacon teams up with IWG to reimagine office fashion

IWG, which operates Spaces and Regus, states that the collection plays to workers’ wishes to express individuality at work as 55 percent of workers surveyed said they work better when given the freedom to dress how they like, and 40 percent added they are more creative.

Research also found that Millennials and Gen Z workers are particularly conscious of expressing themselves at work via their wardrobes. With more than half (51 percent) of 18-24-year-olds stating that their outfits reflect their personality, the highest of any age demographic, while 51 percent of 25-34-year-olds said that their office attire is linked to their creativity, higher than any other age group.

The question of what to wear when returning to the office has also been at the forefront of many workers minds, the research reveals, with 64 percent opting for comfy clothes over lockdown and 59 percent adding that the days of formal business dress are over. In addition, 39 percent think it will be more acceptable to wear less formal clothing in the office as a result of hybrid working.

Fatima Koning, group chief sales officer at IWG, added: “Giles Deacon is a fashion icon and we are delighted to have partnered with him to create the IWG x Giles collection, bringing to life the latest post-pandemic workwear trends. The collection has been inspired by our experiences over the last year or so and the desire to look and feel fabulous, whilst not compromising on comfort.”