Understanding The Romantization Of Retro Corporatecore
When corporate clothing becomes an everyday aesthetic.
Pencil skirts. White collars. Cinched blazers. Sounds formal right? Except it's not what you may think it’s for – possibly a work meeting or job interview? It’s for an everyday fashion aesthetic – corporatecore.
Within the last few months, how many times have you heard the term “core” alongside a new trending aesthetic? From cottagecore to cowboycore, the wheel of trends has been moving faster than it ever has before, so fast that the wrap sweaters and ballet flats that shaped balletcore a few months prior, have now been swapped for button-down blouses and kitten heels to sculpt the new successor – corpcore.
The aesthetic “corporatecore/corpcore” or “corporate fetish” or “office siren” or, basically any shortened term for an interest in retro office wear from the 90s/2000s, has become all the hype recently on digital platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest, with Gen Z nostalgics reminiscing over a time they were too young to remember; and office environments they never had the chance to experience. The aesthetic has even reached runways, particularly within LaQuan Smith’s Fall 2024 line, which was heavily inspired by 1980s Wall Street attire. Currently, corporate core cannot be escaped but its ironic timing during the height of economic instability, low employment and the new ordinary of working out-of-office, can Gen Z be blamed for yearning for a time when office work was attainable and a conventional way of working?
Emily Sunberg who coined the term ‘corporate-fetish’ described it as, “When people glamorize the idea of an office– the water cooler conversations, getting dressed (actually getting dressed, dry-cleaner-pick-up dressed) for an 8 - 7 job, and spinning around in a desk chair. This all while office occupancy hovers around 50% in New York.”
The popularity of the corporate aesthetic seems to reflect the reality of how non-existent corporate culture has become, compared to how it was before. The before being pre-pandemic hybrid or remote-working, when office culture was rife, and a pre-recession time, when economies were stable and unemployment rates were at their lowest. Although Gen Z didn’t get the chance to experience a late 1990s Office Space or early 2000s The Devil Wears Prada type of office culture, it seems they can reach close to it through a neutral-toned pantsuit or a ponte midi dress. Whether it’s shown through everyday attire, or simply just to work from home, corporate wear is a fashion limitless for any environment, not just the office.
Connect with Facebook