It s been a year since we began to WFH. Did you master Groom for Zoom?
16 March 2021 • 5:32pm
Even The Queen has had to tackle WFH style
Credit: Reuters
If you are lucky enough to be able to work from home, then this week probably marks the one year anniversary of you doing so. In fact, it was on this very day last March that the Prime Minister asked the nation to WFH, as it’s become known, where possible.
Throughout the past 12 months between 40 and 60 per cent of us have swapped the office for the kitchen table thanks to the pandemic. It was remarkable how within days of Boris Johnson’s edict, the brands that once sold us 18-hour dresses, commute-friendly heels and no-crease trouser suits had regrouped to advise us on the best tops for video calls, while a slew of Instagram accounts (most famously @WFHfits) glamorised the idea of getting dressed for a commute across the landing via aspirational mirror selfies from the (few?) people who really were making an effort.
Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images; Inset: Courtesy of Subject; Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images
The L.A.-based designer has had everyone from Beyonce to JLo wear his creations but it took a political event to generate a viral but long-lasting sensation: I didn t realize it was going to be such a big deal. I feel like it was just a perfect storm of things happening and fate, says designer Sergio Hudson, just a couple of weeks after dressing two of the most prominent players at the January inauguration, Vice President Kamala Harris and former first lady Michelle Obama. Meredith Koop, who is Mrs. Obama s stylist, had reached out to me even before the election and said she wanted me to be an option for her to wear. We submitted sketches, but she ended up going with a look that was actually from our Fall 20 collection.
Joe Martinez
“Fashion shows are not really my thing,” stylist Meredith Koop admits. “They are beautiful and I love to see the clothes move, but they feel cold and it’s like, Oooo I don t know if I am cool enough to be here. ” Coming from the sartorial mastermind who was Michelle Obama’s personal stylist since 2010 this is both a shock (Koop placed the order for Obama’s jaw-dropping Balenciaga glitter boots after all) and a relief. It is clear that her ability to craft a wardrobe with J.Crew one day and Jason Wu the next stems from a very real place. Koop is the type of woman anyone Michelle Obama or otherwise would want in their court.