Officewear moves up a gear

Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, and Vittoria Ceretti... It-girls are appropriating office dress codes and giving them a sensual twist. How to work them.

After several street-influenced seasons, fashion is entering a new cycle... Eternally restyling, the great elegant classics are back in vogue again. Until further notice, more precisely, until the next major designer stunt, we're ditching oversized down jackets, revisited sweatpants and streamlined sneakers in favour of a more sophisticated, couture look. Workwear continues to inspire. But instead of donning a pseudo-pump attendant’s coveralls, you’ll be sporting pieces favoured by the top echelons of the financial world. Officewear reinvents businesswoman must-haves from the 60s to the early noughties: skirt suit, maxi-shoulder jacket, wide-leg pants, monochrome suit...

Men at Dolce & Gabbana wear corsets, while women proudly wear ties. Valentino's Black Tie collection puts accessories in the spotlight for both men and women: black in contrast to a white shirt, twisting a sexy red dress, and exploring tuxedo style. It goes just as well at Dior with an elaborate skirt as with wide-leg pants. Carolina Herrera uses it to soften her biker silhouette. Another men's dressing room classic? A man's waistcoat, worn next to the skin over satin skirt or matching trousers. 

But be warned: this isn't a trip down memory lane. Fashion and its influencers once again prove their ability to innovate, invent and renew... A chic jacket, for example, is the perfect ally for the no-pants trend (meaning not trousers, but with micro- or maxi-shorts – it's all a question of interpretation). The skirt-over-trousers look has been exhumed from the noughties and given a more sophisticated, tone-on-tone look. The skirt suit, a favourite with executive women, is corrupted with a crop top or daring ankle boots, while the men's suit pairs with an indecent bustier. From tartans to polka dots, pastels to pops, florals to landscapes... the colours and prints are a match made in heaven. Each to their own! However, the colour palette is easily understated, oscillating between grey, black, white or beige when it isn't venturing into red or pink.