When Derek Johnson was interviewing candidates for a marketing job at his tech company, one applicant arrived in a business suit. 'It put us on edge,' says Mr. Johnson, founder and CEO of Tatango.com. Mr. Johnson believed the job candidate was presenting a false image of himself. The suit, he felt, was tantamount to a lie.
Mr. Johnson is 22 -- an entrepreneur who dropped out of college when it got in the way of running Tatango, which enables groups to blast text and voice messages to their members. Like many of his generation, he sees traditional business attire as a form of cover-up. In his workplace, he says, 'we're not trying to hide anything with our clothes.'
Established companies have long hired employees whose clothing suggested they would toe the corporate line. Today, many young managers believe office attire should do pretty much the opposite: express a person's inner soul.
To older people, young people's style can be difficult to understand. Going far beyond business casual, the clothes seem either highly informal or provocatively young -- jeans, athletic shoes, tight T-shirts and miniskirts, for instance.
But young workers are replacing traditional business dress with their own complex sets of rules and subliminal messages. Their choices among brand-name items are meant to communicate substance. Rather than Gucci versus Allen Edmonds, for instance, the choice may involve Nike Air Force versus Chuck Taylors. (Read: urban vs. surfer.)
In a way, their aesthetic represents a new kind of uniform -- one heavily dependent on corporate labels. But young people say their mix-and-match style offers them more versatility and creativity than the old uniform did.
'You know when someone's real and when someone's corporate,' says Roman Tsunder, 34. As chief executive of Access 360 Media Inc., a youth-market consultant based in New York and Los Angeles, his clients include MTV and AT&T.
Mr. Tsunder says he saves a suit for some occasions, such as meeting with investors who might lose confidence if he appears too edgy. But he's careful to note that his isn't a businessman's status suit: He bought it at Zara, the fast-fashion chain. He has on more expensive clothes on the days when he wears Diesel blue jeans, a white J. Lindeberg belt and Prada shoes.
For a recent meeting with MTV, Mr. Tsunder wore silver Nike Air Force athletic shoes and a white collared shirt under a mint green V-necked sweater 'because it's youthful.' With a more conservative client, he says, he'll wear something more 'aggressive,' such as 'a collared shirt that I found in the south of France.'
Tina Wells, the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Buzz Marketing Group in Voorhees, N.J., wears a similarly broad high-to-low mix of brands to work. This includes mini dresses from Target, Chanel ballerina flats, and a lot of luxury denim. Like many of her generation, she defines her clothing by label: True Religion, Raven and Citizens of Humanity.
She founded her company, which serves clients that include Swarovski Group, at 16. 'I'm not a Harvard M.B.A.-type person,' Ms. Wells says. 'If I were just a girl in a suit, I think it wouldn't clearly demonstrate' the degree of sophistication her company has to offer, she says.
She hasn't thrown out all the traditional rules. Ms. Wells has banned certain lace tops and asked one intern to remove her chin-piercing for work, saying, 'I think we shouldn't scare the clients.'
Yet Ms. Wells has also rejected the below-the-knee skirts and neat matching sweaters suggested by her mother. 'The boomer generation -- they love those twin sets,' she says. 'I like cardigans, but not the set -- oh gosh, not the set.'
Avoiding an overly matchy-matchy look has become a generation-defining choice. It's as though matching jackets and skirts suggest an overreliance on parents' stiff fashion conventions. Cynthia Johnson, Derek Johnson's 52-year-old mother, notes, 'I was born in the '50s -- we had rules that you don't wear white after Sept. 30.'
When Mr. Johnson got his first professional job -- an internship in midtown New York City -- his parents bought him two $900 suits at Nordstrom. But Mr. Johnson declines to wear those suits, even as he meets with venture capitalists to raise money for Tatango. He says he wore one once to make a presentation, but he adds ruefully, 'I think I wasn't really myself.'
德里克·約翰遜(Derek Johnson)一手創(chuàng)辦的科技公司Tatango.com要招一個(gè)營(yíng)銷人員，他在面試應(yīng)聘者時(shí)，一位求職者西裝革履地出現(xiàn)在他面前。身為公司首席執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)的約翰遜說，這樣讓我們挺緊張的。他認(rèn)為這位應(yīng)聘者并沒有展現(xiàn)自己真實(shí)的一面，覺得那套西裝簡(jiǎn)直等于一個(gè)謊言。
約翰遜大學(xué)時(shí)因?qū)W業(yè)妨礙了Tatango的經(jīng)營(yíng)而退學(xué)，Tatango可以讓組群向成員群發(fā)文本和語音信息。22歲的約翰遜與許多同齡人一樣，認(rèn)為傳統(tǒng)的正裝是一種掩飾。他說，在他的公司里，人們不會(huì)試圖用穿衣打扮去掩蓋任何東西。
知名的大公司長(zhǎng)久以來雇用的都是穿衣風(fēng)格表明自己會(huì)遵守公司規(guī)定的員工。如今，許多年輕管理人員卻認(rèn)為辦公室著裝的用途剛好相反：應(yīng)該表現(xiàn)出一個(gè)人的內(nèi)在精神世界。
對(duì)年長(zhǎng)的人來說，年輕人的風(fēng)格可能很難理解。他們的著裝已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了“商務(wù)休閑”的范疇，看上去要么極其不正式，要么太不成熟－－比如說牛仔褲、運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋、緊身T恤和超短裙。
但年輕員工正以自己的一套復(fù)雜著裝規(guī)則和其中傳達(dá)的潛在信息來取代傳統(tǒng)的職業(yè)裝。他們對(duì)品牌的選擇都是有實(shí)質(zhì)意義的。舉例來說，他們可能不會(huì)在Gucci和Allen Edmonds之間選擇，但會(huì)考慮是穿耐克的Air Force運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋還是Chuck Taylors帆布鞋。（其中含義是：選擇都市風(fēng)格還是運(yùn)動(dòng)休閑。）
在某種程度上，他們的審美觀代表了一種新的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)－－嚴(yán)重依賴公司品牌。但年輕人認(rèn)為，混搭風(fēng)格比老式制服給了他們更多功能和創(chuàng)意。
34歲的Roman Tsunder說，你能感覺到別人是展現(xiàn)真實(shí)自我還是公事公辦。他是位于紐約和洛杉磯的青年市場(chǎng)咨詢公司Access 360 Media Inc.的首席執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)，MTV和美國(guó)電話電報(bào)公司(AT&T)都是他的客戶。
Tsunder說，他備了一套西裝用于某些場(chǎng)合，比如與投資者開會(huì)時(shí)，如果他顯得太過尖銳，投資者可能會(huì)對(duì)他沒信心。但他特地強(qiáng)調(diào)自己那套西裝并不是標(biāo)榜商人地位的正裝：他是在快速時(shí)尚連鎖店Zara買的。其實(shí)他那套Diesel藍(lán)色牛仔褲、白色J. Lindeberg皮帶和Prada鞋的行頭更貴。
最近跟MTV開會(huì)時(shí)，Tsunder身穿銀色耐克Air Force運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋、白襯衫，外面配薄荷綠V領(lǐng)毛衫，因?yàn)椤斑@樣顯得年輕”。他說，跟更保守的客戶開會(huì)時(shí)，他會(huì)穿得更“積極”，比如說在法國(guó)南部買的有領(lǐng)襯衫。
創(chuàng)建了Buzz Marketing Group并任首席執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)的蒂娜·韋爾斯(Tina Wells)也同樣會(huì)在上班時(shí)將不同檔次的品牌搭配起來穿。她的行頭包括Target的小洋裝、香奈爾(Chanel)的平底芭蕾鞋，還有一大堆高檔牛仔褲。跟許多同齡人一樣，28歲的韋爾斯也用品牌來區(qū)分自己的衣服：True Religion、Raven和Citizens of Humanity。
她16歲創(chuàng)建自己的公司，客戶包括施華洛世奇集團(tuán)(Swarovski Group)。韋爾斯說，我不是哈佛MBA那種類型的人。她說，如果她只是個(gè)穿套裝的女孩子，那就無法清楚地展示出她的公司所提供的服務(wù)的復(fù)雜完善。
韋爾斯并非全盤拋棄傳統(tǒng)規(guī)則。她禁止某些蕾絲上衣，還讓一位實(shí)習(xí)生去掉下巴上的穿環(huán)再來上班，她說，我覺得我們不應(yīng)該嚇到客戶。
但韋爾斯也拒絕母親提議的及膝裙和配套的毛衫。她說，上一代人喜歡這種兩件套式的羊毛衫，她自己也喜歡羊毛衫，但不是成套的－－那絕對(duì)不行。
避免中規(guī)中矩的搭配已經(jīng)成了這一代人特有的選擇。感覺好像相配的外套和裙子就說明是過度依賴父母那種呆板的時(shí)尚觀念。德里克·約翰遜52歲的母親辛西婭·約翰遜(Cynthia Johnson)說，她生于50年代，她們那代人的慣例是在9月30號(hào)以后就不穿白色衣服了。
當(dāng)約翰遜得到第一份專職工作（在紐約中城實(shí)習(xí)）時(shí)，他的父母在Nordstrom給他買了兩套900美元的西裝。但他不愿意穿那些西裝，即便是與風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本家開會(huì)為Tatango籌資時(shí)也沒穿過。他說，他有一次穿著其中一套做演示，但隨即十分后悔地補(bǔ)充道，他覺得那不是自己的本來面目。
Mr. Johnson is 22 -- an entrepreneur who dropped out of college when it got in the way of running Tatango, which enables groups to blast text and voice messages to their members. Like many of his generation, he sees traditional business attire as a form of cover-up. In his workplace, he says, 'we're not trying to hide anything with our clothes.'
Established companies have long hired employees whose clothing suggested they would toe the corporate line. Today, many young managers believe office attire should do pretty much the opposite: express a person's inner soul.
To older people, young people's style can be difficult to understand. Going far beyond business casual, the clothes seem either highly informal or provocatively young -- jeans, athletic shoes, tight T-shirts and miniskirts, for instance.
But young workers are replacing traditional business dress with their own complex sets of rules and subliminal messages. Their choices among brand-name items are meant to communicate substance. Rather than Gucci versus Allen Edmonds, for instance, the choice may involve Nike Air Force versus Chuck Taylors. (Read: urban vs. surfer.)
In a way, their aesthetic represents a new kind of uniform -- one heavily dependent on corporate labels. But young people say their mix-and-match style offers them more versatility and creativity than the old uniform did.
'You know when someone's real and when someone's corporate,' says Roman Tsunder, 34. As chief executive of Access 360 Media Inc., a youth-market consultant based in New York and Los Angeles, his clients include MTV and AT&T.
Mr. Tsunder says he saves a suit for some occasions, such as meeting with investors who might lose confidence if he appears too edgy. But he's careful to note that his isn't a businessman's status suit: He bought it at Zara, the fast-fashion chain. He has on more expensive clothes on the days when he wears Diesel blue jeans, a white J. Lindeberg belt and Prada shoes.
For a recent meeting with MTV, Mr. Tsunder wore silver Nike Air Force athletic shoes and a white collared shirt under a mint green V-necked sweater 'because it's youthful.' With a more conservative client, he says, he'll wear something more 'aggressive,' such as 'a collared shirt that I found in the south of France.'
Tina Wells, the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Buzz Marketing Group in Voorhees, N.J., wears a similarly broad high-to-low mix of brands to work. This includes mini dresses from Target, Chanel ballerina flats, and a lot of luxury denim. Like many of her generation, she defines her clothing by label: True Religion, Raven and Citizens of Humanity.
She founded her company, which serves clients that include Swarovski Group, at 16. 'I'm not a Harvard M.B.A.-type person,' Ms. Wells says. 'If I were just a girl in a suit, I think it wouldn't clearly demonstrate' the degree of sophistication her company has to offer, she says.
She hasn't thrown out all the traditional rules. Ms. Wells has banned certain lace tops and asked one intern to remove her chin-piercing for work, saying, 'I think we shouldn't scare the clients.'
Yet Ms. Wells has also rejected the below-the-knee skirts and neat matching sweaters suggested by her mother. 'The boomer generation -- they love those twin sets,' she says. 'I like cardigans, but not the set -- oh gosh, not the set.'
Avoiding an overly matchy-matchy look has become a generation-defining choice. It's as though matching jackets and skirts suggest an overreliance on parents' stiff fashion conventions. Cynthia Johnson, Derek Johnson's 52-year-old mother, notes, 'I was born in the '50s -- we had rules that you don't wear white after Sept. 30.'
When Mr. Johnson got his first professional job -- an internship in midtown New York City -- his parents bought him two $900 suits at Nordstrom. But Mr. Johnson declines to wear those suits, even as he meets with venture capitalists to raise money for Tatango. He says he wore one once to make a presentation, but he adds ruefully, 'I think I wasn't really myself.'
德里克·約翰遜(Derek Johnson)一手創(chuàng)辦的科技公司Tatango.com要招一個(gè)營(yíng)銷人員，他在面試應(yīng)聘者時(shí)，一位求職者西裝革履地出現(xiàn)在他面前。身為公司首席執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)的約翰遜說，這樣讓我們挺緊張的。他認(rèn)為這位應(yīng)聘者并沒有展現(xiàn)自己真實(shí)的一面，覺得那套西裝簡(jiǎn)直等于一個(gè)謊言。
約翰遜大學(xué)時(shí)因?qū)W業(yè)妨礙了Tatango的經(jīng)營(yíng)而退學(xué)，Tatango可以讓組群向成員群發(fā)文本和語音信息。22歲的約翰遜與許多同齡人一樣，認(rèn)為傳統(tǒng)的正裝是一種掩飾。他說，在他的公司里，人們不會(huì)試圖用穿衣打扮去掩蓋任何東西。
知名的大公司長(zhǎng)久以來雇用的都是穿衣風(fēng)格表明自己會(huì)遵守公司規(guī)定的員工。如今，許多年輕管理人員卻認(rèn)為辦公室著裝的用途剛好相反：應(yīng)該表現(xiàn)出一個(gè)人的內(nèi)在精神世界。
對(duì)年長(zhǎng)的人來說，年輕人的風(fēng)格可能很難理解。他們的著裝已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了“商務(wù)休閑”的范疇，看上去要么極其不正式，要么太不成熟－－比如說牛仔褲、運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋、緊身T恤和超短裙。
但年輕員工正以自己的一套復(fù)雜著裝規(guī)則和其中傳達(dá)的潛在信息來取代傳統(tǒng)的職業(yè)裝。他們對(duì)品牌的選擇都是有實(shí)質(zhì)意義的。舉例來說，他們可能不會(huì)在Gucci和Allen Edmonds之間選擇，但會(huì)考慮是穿耐克的Air Force運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋還是Chuck Taylors帆布鞋。（其中含義是：選擇都市風(fēng)格還是運(yùn)動(dòng)休閑。）
在某種程度上，他們的審美觀代表了一種新的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)－－嚴(yán)重依賴公司品牌。但年輕人認(rèn)為，混搭風(fēng)格比老式制服給了他們更多功能和創(chuàng)意。
34歲的Roman Tsunder說，你能感覺到別人是展現(xiàn)真實(shí)自我還是公事公辦。他是位于紐約和洛杉磯的青年市場(chǎng)咨詢公司Access 360 Media Inc.的首席執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)，MTV和美國(guó)電話電報(bào)公司(AT&T)都是他的客戶。
Tsunder說，他備了一套西裝用于某些場(chǎng)合，比如與投資者開會(huì)時(shí)，如果他顯得太過尖銳，投資者可能會(huì)對(duì)他沒信心。但他特地強(qiáng)調(diào)自己那套西裝并不是標(biāo)榜商人地位的正裝：他是在快速時(shí)尚連鎖店Zara買的。其實(shí)他那套Diesel藍(lán)色牛仔褲、白色J. Lindeberg皮帶和Prada鞋的行頭更貴。
最近跟MTV開會(huì)時(shí)，Tsunder身穿銀色耐克Air Force運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋、白襯衫，外面配薄荷綠V領(lǐng)毛衫，因?yàn)椤斑@樣顯得年輕”。他說，跟更保守的客戶開會(huì)時(shí)，他會(huì)穿得更“積極”，比如說在法國(guó)南部買的有領(lǐng)襯衫。
創(chuàng)建了Buzz Marketing Group并任首席執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)的蒂娜·韋爾斯(Tina Wells)也同樣會(huì)在上班時(shí)將不同檔次的品牌搭配起來穿。她的行頭包括Target的小洋裝、香奈爾(Chanel)的平底芭蕾鞋，還有一大堆高檔牛仔褲。跟許多同齡人一樣，28歲的韋爾斯也用品牌來區(qū)分自己的衣服：True Religion、Raven和Citizens of Humanity。
她16歲創(chuàng)建自己的公司，客戶包括施華洛世奇集團(tuán)(Swarovski Group)。韋爾斯說，我不是哈佛MBA那種類型的人。她說，如果她只是個(gè)穿套裝的女孩子，那就無法清楚地展示出她的公司所提供的服務(wù)的復(fù)雜完善。
韋爾斯并非全盤拋棄傳統(tǒng)規(guī)則。她禁止某些蕾絲上衣，還讓一位實(shí)習(xí)生去掉下巴上的穿環(huán)再來上班，她說，我覺得我們不應(yīng)該嚇到客戶。
但韋爾斯也拒絕母親提議的及膝裙和配套的毛衫。她說，上一代人喜歡這種兩件套式的羊毛衫，她自己也喜歡羊毛衫，但不是成套的－－那絕對(duì)不行。
避免中規(guī)中矩的搭配已經(jīng)成了這一代人特有的選擇。感覺好像相配的外套和裙子就說明是過度依賴父母那種呆板的時(shí)尚觀念。德里克·約翰遜52歲的母親辛西婭·約翰遜(Cynthia Johnson)說，她生于50年代，她們那代人的慣例是在9月30號(hào)以后就不穿白色衣服了。
當(dāng)約翰遜得到第一份專職工作（在紐約中城實(shí)習(xí)）時(shí)，他的父母在Nordstrom給他買了兩套900美元的西裝。但他不愿意穿那些西裝，即便是與風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本家開會(huì)為Tatango籌資時(shí)也沒穿過。他說，他有一次穿著其中一套做演示，但隨即十分后悔地補(bǔ)充道，他覺得那不是自己的本來面目。