The code has changed: the new dress code for workspaces

Ties have disappeared from open spaces. Strict suits have given way to white sneakers. And in some offices, the hoodie has become as much a sign of authority as a cashmere sweater. Welcome to 2025, where professional dress codes are evolving as fast as the way we work. Between remote working, coworking, flex office and changing corporate cultures, the dress code as we've known it is undergoing a silent but very real revolution. Behind the fabrics and cuts, a new social grammar is taking shape.

The great relaxation

It used to be that getting dressed for the office meant "getting into work mode". Suits, ironed blouses, heels, cufflinks... every outfit obeyed implicit norms. And this was all the more true in different business sectors. Today, the framework has been relaxed... to say the least.

The pandemic has brought a breath of fresh air. In telecommuting, off-camera pyjamas coexist with ironed shirts (or not) against a blurred background. The alignment between image, function and workplace has become distended, sometimes to the point of disappearing.

And in shared or flexible workspaces, no one expects an unspoken uniform any more. Clothing is becoming more individual, more hybrid, sometimes even more narrative. It reflects the state of mind, the comfort, the need for affirmation or invisibility of the day. It reflects the new porosity between the professional and the personal.

From formal to functional (and identity)

This shift is not just stylistic, it's cultural. In start-ups, the hoodie is almost a manifesto. In creative sectors, raw jeans and sneakers cohabit with mismatched blazers. Among freelancers, the style is often closer to everyday, with just a little extra for customer meetings.

What we gain in comfort, we now claim in authenticity.
Clothing is no longer social armor, but an extension of the self. It must enable us to be physically comfortable, while remaining "presentable" in a world of hybrid meetings and impromptu visios.

What does this say about work today? The shift in dress code is not insignificant. It reflects a shift in symbolic power, but also a reinvention of professional postures.

Today, authority is no longer demonstrated solely by a well-tailored suit, but by the quality of one's speech, listening skills, mastery of time or project. In a boardroom or on Teams, style takes a back seat to competence, clarity and confidence.

This is not to say that appearance is no longer important. But it no longer responds to fixed standards: it's contextual, shifting, sometimes strategic.

In a coworking space, a Friday flex office or a remote Teams meeting, the right dress code is the one that doesn't harm your credibility, your comfort or your intention for the day.

Towards a more fluid elegance

The new dress code doesn't mean the end of care and style. Quite the contrary, in fact. It calls for a new form of elegance: more fluid, more subtle, more personal.

Comfort has become a right. But dressing well is still a way of being attentive to others, showing respect, and even setting an invisible framework in fast-moving environments. We no longer speak of fixed codes, but of coherence. Consistency between function, location, team culture and individual personality.

So the code has changed, but it hasn't disappeared: it's become more flexible, adapted and individualized. In a world of work in the throes of redefinition, professional clothing is becoming a field of expression where it is no longer a question of dressing "as it should be", but as it works for oneself and for the collective setting.

In the post-office world, dressing up still means working. But in a different way.