From casual and laid back to sophisticated — office set-ups are different. While some have strict dress codes, a few let their employees walk in in whatever makes them comfortable. From oversized blazers and ripped denims, office wear has gone through a sea of change. Productions like The Devil Wears Prada and Mad Men transformed the way people dressed to work. “Today, the impact of television is so much more. With so many styles around, one has to discover what is right and what works for them. It’s a process all of us go through,” says designer Narendra Kumar, Creative Director, Amazon Fashion, who has just designed a work wear collection for Amazon.in. Titled Fleet Street, the collection comprises around 70 styles of tops that include buttoned-down solids, belted silhouettes and prints. The colour palette includes pastels, cream, beige, black and white, in cotton, satin, polyester and georgette among others. There are three styles to choose from — Marylebone, Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus.
This is the second time he’s come up with a work wear line, the first was for Westside, a few years ago. “There is a lack of well-tailored formal clothes in the market for women, and that’s why after a break of sevento eight years I started working on this line. Designing for Amazon gives me a platform to cater to a much larger number of women in the country. The recent line has more variation, and is more feminine,” he says, and adds, “Earlier, women’s work wear was a copy of what men wore. There were just shirts and suits with fits that weren’t great, and with no separate detailing. Over the years, with women rising to higher levels in companies, the work wear segment for them has evolved.”
Fleet Street, he believes, gives working women a bunch of new styles to choose from. “I chose the name because Fleet Street in London has always been seen as the place where women started work in the corporate space,” he adds. Describing his clothes as smart and stylish, he says, “While choosing work wear, decide based on what image you want to portray. Also, avoid large dangling earrings and exceedingly bright shades like hot pink.”
