Work once had an address. You clocked in at 9 am in the office building, you got out and went home at 5 pm. That address is gone now and the clothes haven’t received a memo. A Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V work uniform may have worked when we had predictable workdays, but few days now run to schedule. A morning meeting can lead to a flight, a coffee catch-up, a networking event and dinner, often without a trip home in between to change outfits. And so, we’re calling it: the cookie-cutter cubicle wardrobe is officially outdated.
Men are seeking their 9-to-9 wardrobe. This brand from São Paulo, as it happens, has already built it.
Born in Latin America’s most quietly assured fashion city, Urban Performance has launched its Smartwear collection in India for the evolving modern man who has taste but does not have the time.
Taking inspiration from the works of Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava and Richard Serra, who treated a rigid medium as if it were fluid, Smartwear was designed to converge two opposites: formal workwear and athleisure.
The formality of traditional workwear is expressed through classic cuts and silhouettes, and the comfort and movement mostly offered in athleisure is felt through the use of high-performance fabrics.
Urban Performance’s parent company, Aramis Inc, has spent over three decades designing suits, shirts, and blazers, so getting the silhouette right is hardly new territory.
“We have a whole line where these fabrics, instead of being sewn, are fused. They have no stitching. There isn’t a thread, not even in the buttonhole. They are pieces that you have in your wardrobe and you travel, wherever you go, and you arrive somewhere impeccably sophisticated,” says Mariana Nassralla, director of product development at Urban Performance. For her, this minimalist design philosophy is part of the magic.
Building a 9-to-9 wardrobe for the urban man
The key to acing 9-to-9 dressing is finding a few pieces that can hold their own through your meetings, travels, social life, and whatever else the day has in store for you. To that end, Urban Performance’s Smartwear reworks familiar menswear staples with more flexibility, comfort, and mileage built in. Here are five picks from the collection to get you started.
