Sally Anne Roe, senior designer at Dimensions, shares her pick of the top corporatewear trends for 2020 and beyond
With a new year comes a new set of corporatewear trends. Staying abreast of changing end user preferences, market forces and the prevailing ‘zeitgeist’ will help you to provide a standout service that responds to your customers’ corporatewear wishes and solves their workwear challenges.
As a market-leading uniform solutions provider, Dimensions keeps its finger on the pulse of all the latest trends, allowing the company to provide its customers with a continued strong service.
Here Sally Anne Roe, the company’s senior designer, outlines nine top trends that Dimensions is anticipating for 2020…
(1) Gender neutrality Employers are becoming increasingly aware of their employees’ needs and preferences and we are seeing many opening up their ranges. This enables individual wearers to select styles regardless of gender, leading to greater accessibility for those who seek to represent their gender fluidly. This is having a great impact on the design of clothing for the future.
(2) Flexibility Tying into gender neutrality is the flexibility of uniform. As traditional companies open up, and their uniform becomes less rigid to incorporate their employees’ wants and needs, more and more employers are offering further choice and versatility than ever within their ranges. It allows a wearer an opportunity to reflect their individuality, while, crucially, representing the company’s brand in the right way.
(3) Blurring the lines between smart and casual Clients in the banking sector in particular are placing special emphasis on being more interactive with their customers and are leading the way in introducing uniform ranges that reflect approachability, communication and trust, for example wearing a T-shirt and relaxed pumps with a tailored jacket. Knitwear, traditionally seen as a more formal item, is becoming more casual in style with zip front fastenings, band collars, elbow patches and metal shank buttons for a subtle utilitarian feel.
(4) Sustainability We are definitely seeing our clients become more proactive in recognising customers’ growing concerns around sustainability, and are finally seeing real progress in recycled fabric options: these have quickly become more affordable in response to demand from consumers, making recycled fabric a more realistic option. In line with consumer demand for products that last – as opposed to throwaway, fast-fashion items – the focus seems to be shifting more towards quality and durability rather than cheap and disposable items.
Quilting is a big trend and is being combined with more tailored garments or fabrications [Image: Regatta Professional]
Wearing a T-shirt under a tailored jacket blurs the line between smart and casual and has already been adopted within the banking sector [Image: WGSN]
(5) Wellbeing The wellbeing of employees seems to be very much at the forefront of our customers’ minds when asking us to design for them. There is greater emphasis on features that make the wearers comfortable, such as greater use of stretch fabrics for ease of movement and incorporating technologies such as 37.5 to regulate the wearer’s body temperature.
(6) Outerwear and warmth Quilting is continuing as a big trend and we are seeing it modernised by being combined with more tailored garments or fabrications. Fabrics are becoming increasingly lightweight, soft and pliable, yet still durable and weatherproof, to provide warmth in harsh conditions.
In line with outdoor clothing trends for running and cycling, we are seeing greater use of reflective details and prints being incorporated into collections, helping wearers to be more visible. In addition to this, brightly coloured zips and cord details add interest and create a unique look.
(7) Tailoring Houndstooth check is growing in popularity. For corporatewear we are seeing this used in wearable small-scale and subtle colour combinations rather than the bolder use we are seeing in fashion. Customers are leaning more towards viscose rather than wool-blend fabrics, which looks smart and modern while being breathable and is considered to be cruelty-free.
(8) Blouses and dresses Prints continue to make a strong statement and include anything from geometric patterns to more playful, sketchy designs, with it becoming commonplace to incorporate brand logos as a repeat pattern. We are seeing a continuation of the move towards soft, relaxed blouses and away from woven shirts due to the blouses’ comfort, wearable styling and ease of care.
Dresses have become more relaxed and versatile in style too, with features such as removable waist ties allowing wearers to choose how to wear them.
(9) Accessories Wide straps and utility-inspired fastenings are key on bags, allowing for a lot of flexibility, depending on the wearer’s need. Headwear, too, is becoming more versatile, with features such as reversibility or changeable features coming into play and suiting differing conditions.
These are just a few of the trends the Dimensions team expects to dominate as we enter a new decade and prepare to service the corporate and workwear markets throughout the early 2020s.
