Wearing any old shirt and trousers to work isn’t going to cut it if you want to nail the corpcore trend. Carlota Barerra’s spring-summer 2023 collection added an unexpected twist to workwear through cut-out necklines (like the one pictured above), while Peter Do’s spring-summer 2024 collection, which was showcased at Paris Fashion Week in September this year, took timeless pieces such as shirts and trousers and injected a unique element, such as a bright pop of colour on the trouser legs, to transform them.

While subverting conventional workwear isn’t necessarily a new concept, as Maison Margiela and Prada have been doing this with cinched blazers and pencil skirts since the late ’90s and early ’00s, Barerra and Do’s approach puts a fun contemporary spin to workwear, making it quintessentially corpcore.

Corpcore can also adopt a neutral colour palette. Grey and navy tend to dominate, with brands like Prada and Bally leaning into head-to-toe looks in these colours, as seen in Prada’s autumn-winter 2023 collection and Bally’s spring-summer 2024 collection at Milan Fashion Weeks held in February and September respectively. 

But fashion houses have opted to mix textures to prevent these colour palettes from coming across as dull—so we have Prada experimenting with knitwear and 3D appliqué in grey and white, and Bally playing with unique proportions of traditional garments such as suits with oversized blazers that appear casually paired with mini-skirts.

The occasional pop of pastel or bright colours also breaks things up—cherry red is especially popular and has been seen in multiple collections including at the aforementioned brands.

An attire’s fit can make or break a look and while mini hemlines are one way to visually break the classic workwear mould, excess volume is another. Tastefully oversized pieces can be layered and visually cinched with patterns or tucked into boots to create dimension.

Lemaire took to the latter strategy to establish shape with billowing fabrics in its menswear fall-winter 2023 collection shown at Paris Fashion Week in January, whereas Boss incorporated a coat with plush, pinstriped fabric and a suit with a subtle print to visually break up the lines in its spring-summer 2024 collection at Milan Fashion Week in September. 

While kitten heels, structured bags and ties are all accessories that can elevate the corpcore look, sometimes deliberately removing elements can also make a look stand out. Ferragamo has taken the classic almond-toe work shoes but decided to do away with laces in its Tramezza collection, giving a fresh spin on a familiar aesthetic.

Another key accessory to nail the corpcore look is the mid-aughts dark, rectangular frame spectacles. Made popular by American models such as Bella Hadid and Gabbriette, these spectacles have come to be known as “Bayonetta glasses”, referring to the titular character of the Japanese action adventure video game series of the same name (who wears a similar style of glasses). A rounded variation was also spotted in Miu Miu’s autumn-winter 2023 campaign, modelled by the likes of actors Emma Corbin and Mia Goth.

In their spring-summer 2024 collections, Miu Miu and Loewe have taken key pieces of workwear, such as shirts and jackets and mixed them up with casual items such as board shorts and sandals and have deliberately ruffled up the pieces to give them a casually assembled aesthetics. This styling choice is a fun way to subvert expectations of office attire.

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