Cabins are having a major fashion moment

No one doubts Chloe Cherry's financial acumen. No one expects to see her in the office either. Enter Donatella Versace, who recruited porn star-turned-actress Euphoria for her new fashion series: an SSENSE exclusive featuring Cherry in double-breasted jumpsuits, sealed stilettos and crisp white oxfords with sparkly bustiers at them. seams. (Think: Clark Kent's quick-change Superman, but with a black lace bra instead of a DC Comics unitard.) Cherry perches on a desk, finding her light in an old-school computer screen. school. His wrist is restrained by a telephone cord. His expression is alert: wide eyes, parted lips, hair higher than Morgan Stanley's profit margin. And while she may be working rather than working, the message is clear: Boss female dogs are this season's sex goddesses, and the IRL office is their pantheon.

"We always want what we can't have, huh?" asks costume designer Sarah Edwards when I tell her that cubicles are the latest high-end accessories. While selecting costumes for Apple TV+'s Severance, Edwards spent months cooped up in an office with Ben Stiller, Adam Scott and the rest of the cast, creating a dystopian corporate wonderland that captured the imagination. viewers, including more than a few fashion pros. “I started dressing this cast during peak work-from-home hours. I couldn't find a women's power suit anywhere. Ben [Stiller] talks about Severance as possibly happening in an alternate reality. But we've become our own alternate reality during the pandemic, at least in terms of workwear. »

This alternate reality has taken vintage TV and movies and turned them into pop culture wish lists. As social distancing mandates began in 2020, The Office became the most streamed TV show of the year and went from a corporate satire "to an ambitious fantasy". Cashmere nap dresses and sweaters have become the pinnacle of luxury. And faced with suddenly available office space, photographers and creative directors began plotting out what was next for fashion campaigns and social media mood boards, which is almost always a peak projection of "what which we cannot have". For summer 2022, it doesn't have to be an influencer-blasted Positano cruise, or a countryside bathed in tropical shores and sun-licked skin. It is, somewhat infuriatingly, a retro cubicle with a landline phone, industrial carpet, and the stark LED lighting of a beauty vlogger's nightmares.

Besides Cherry's SSENSE spread, there have been other notable entries into fashion's recent office obsession: Agent Provocateur's current campaign has model Alana Felisberto donning a transparent lingerie set, accessorized with a Rolodex and a Palm Pilot. Chanel captures a bit of glamor during a midday rooftop coffee break.