J.Crew Goes After A New Type of Workwear

In the window display at J.Crew’s Fifth Avenue store is a giant daily planner: at 2:40 P.M. is a “Pep talk to self” followed by a 3:00 P.M. “PRESENTATION TIME!” and “Happy hour @ that new place” at 6 P.M. The text on the glass asks, “What are you wearing to work tomorrow?” The answer, J.Crew hopes, is clothing introduced through the collaboration of every gig economy permalancer’s dreams: J.Crew x WeWork x Linkedin. The trio didn’t actually work together on designing new clothes—J.Crew still wants workers to wear its standard gear to work. But each understands what they can do for their respective brands if they team up, which is why the collaboration takes the form of a series of talks with entrepreneurs in places like New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta, and a new ad campaign starring WeWork members. As modern-day workers change from office-dwelling and desk-strapped to always-on-the-job and always-on-the-go, J.Crew is betting that their wardrobes will need a refresh as well. The definition of success is changing “in the same way fashion in offices and clothing is evolving,” Ashley Levey, LinkedIn’s consumer editorial marketing lead, tells me. The event, at its core, is set up for two entrepreneurs to talk about what success means to them. The only thing out of the ordinary is that it’s happening at a J.Crew store. Think of it as a mutually beneficial marketing exercise: WeWork and LinkedIn are after the kind of young professionals who shop at J.Crew, while J.Crew is trying to figure out how best to outfit this next generation of workers. As these companies see it, we’re not just experiencing the casualization of the office. The entire way people work is changing and that means the clothes they’re wearing are, too. Read more at GQ.