Kanye West just wearing a humble $43 Dickies workwear jacket to the 2019 Met Gala, shifted the fashion sense. American workwear since its inception has always been synonymous with the humble uniform worn by working-class laborers. Kanye West’s simple act of donning the $43 Dickies workwear jacket has made it fashionable. People now equate simple workwear with everyday style, as well as it has become a sort of anti-fashion status symbol.
Workwear through all of recorded history has always had more to do with the social standing of oneself. It was the line that was used to distinguish the blue-collar from the white-collar workers. Workwear as a need was practical and durable, made for a utilitarian purpose, and with just the right amount of comfort. All workwear was designed to be worn every day and for physical, dirty work. It was quite literally the opposite of fashion; whereas fashionable clothes tended to represent individuality, Workwear tended to gravitate toward the collective. Each worker in the assembly line or the profession wearing jbs wear scrubs to symbolize as the working class.
One would think that an average millennial professional, would hardly look at jbs wear scrubs, let alone adorn themselves in such clothes, yet the world has shifted once again. In a time when most people prefer to work remotely or in-tech jobs that weren’t around five years ago. Fashion has always been a reflection of the times, in the years gone by fashion has incorporated many workwear trends over time. Some examples of this are clip-on ID badges at Prada, nurse’s uniforms at Louis Vuitton, Raf Simons’ high-vis firefighter jackets at Calvin Klein, Martin Margiela’s paint-splattered plimsolls, and that Vetements DHL t-shirt. More recently Timothée Chalamet wore an oversized Off-white shirt that was more akin to something a worker would wear at a gas station. The examples of fashion combining workwear are numerous and the history of such incorporation is long. Tupac was an early trailblazer wearing marquee-proportioned denim workwear to the Soul Train Music Awards in 1993.
Long wear the amalgamation of workwear in the fashion industry, longer still before workwear graced the red carpet, workwear was a subcultural staple in the 80s and 90s, with some mixed and match the military garb, skatewear, sportswear, and thrift-shop finds. Back in those early days, it was anti-fashion, now it is streetwear. We see jbs wear adorned by many in the streets, but what does this donning of the jbs wear say about the shifting symbolism of the workwear? There are two sides to this discussion some have labeled fashionable workwear as nothing more than playing dress-up in blue-collar uniforms, and others have labeled such fashion as class appropriation. Some have labeled work wear as woke wear, while others are emphatic in their denial that work wear is not woke wear.
Yet, for whatever opinions you may have on the topic, it is to be said that the greatest fashion minds of this generation have been handling this trend with sincerity and with their spin. Graig Green, Kiko Kostadinov, and Samuel Ross of A-COLD-WALL*at London Fashion Week in 2019 showcased a workwear-esque line that was fashionable and far removed from the black and yellow cliche that workwear fashion is known for. These great fashion designers have offered a more nuanced take on workwear, from their designs it seems that work has much to do with functionality but also with the romanticization of the everyday hero. Workwear has and will have cultural significance.
Kiko Kostadinov’s dad worked in construction and his mom worked as a cleaner. In his early childhood days, he worked part-time with his father. His work clothes must have seemed pedestrian but they did have an impact on the young fledgling child. He began to explore the fashion of workwear further during his time at Central Saint Martin and his first collection was brimming with a fuss-free navy cotton shirt perfectly complimented by weatherproof Ventile trousers with twisted pleats. The collection betrayed the inspiration that Kiko took from the clothes he saw his parents in every day. He combined the essence of workwear with some Danish, Japanese, and Swedish workwear fashion sprinkled on top; the result was something new and original, and modern to boot. It was more similar to something like the jb’s wear of today.
Kiko’s show in 2019 particularly explored uniforms of the horseracing world. This star-studded lineup perfectly represented a microcosm of society. Each dress was a subtle critique of how we as a society look to clothes to signify social rank.
Craig Geen is another prime example of doing work wear fashion right. Green’s family was chock-full of plumbers, carpenters, and electricians. He saw the everyday workers’ outfits consistently and at school, he was instructed to wear the school uniform. He subverted the school uniform at every turn, swapping his trousers for tracksuit bottoms, or substituting school shoes for black sneakers. This subversion of the uniform can nowadays be seen in his modern kind of uniform line. His modern uniform line optimizes the romanticness of old technologies. His line is a way of grouping people together, similar to jb’s wear.
Craig’s collection had brown cargo trousers that were equipped with external pockets, and terracotta leather, spliced with knitwear. His line was essentially work-wear turned into something more individual and special. It combined the essence of workwear with the individuality of fashion. To Craig, it can be summarized that for him designing workwear for physical labor is romantic.
In the years gone by Heron Preston once collaborated with New York’s Sanitation Department, during that time he told people that “people who use their hands, people who sweat, people who do hard work is kind of like one of the most honest ways of working, and that’s my point of view.” In later years he collaborated with NASA. These two instances greatly impacted his debut show held in Paris. His line mostly took inspiration from the uniforms of customs officials. His line design felt organic and his clothing felt like streetwear instead of clothes worn on the street.
Workwear for all its charms and cultural significance, romantic notions are now firmly steeped into the fashion psyche. It may be reimagined and recreated but at its core workwear will always remain anti-fashion. You can get a cheap imitation from the corner vendor but you can only get the real thing by working for it.
