New Yorkers Updating Wardrobes as They Return to the Office

New Yorkers are updating their wardrobes as they return to working in the office.

Custom suiting sales are picking up as these workers seek to adapt their attire to the evolving workplace, project a professional image and display their own personality and individual style, Balani Custom Clothiers said in a Monday (April 17) press release.

“We have seen a surge in custom suit sales in recent months as people return to the office,” Balani Custom Clothiers CEO Sonny Balani said in the release.

The share of Manhattan office workers who are in the office on the average weekday continues to rise, according to the Partnership for New York City.

That figure reached 52% in late January, up from 49% in September 2022, and employers expect the share of workers who are in the office to continue rising to a “new normal” of 56%, the organization said in a February press release.

Balani said that as these workers return to the office, the trend in attire is toward a look that is comfortable yet polished, with the classic suit and tie giving way to alternatives that are more modern and relaxed.

Custom suiting can meet this demand with options that provide individual style, a tailored fit, and a wide selection of fabrics and colors, Balani said in the release.

“Our professional stylists work closely with clients to create garments that are both comfortable and polished,” Balani said. “We look forward to helping more New Yorkers make a statement with their professional attire.”

PYMNTS research has found that across the United States, high-income consumers are still working remotely while low-income consumers are increasingly returning to jobs that require them to work on-site.

Seventy-one percent of high-income consumers — the estimated 45 million Americans who make $100,000 or more annually — do at least some of their work remotely from home, according to “Digitally Divided: Work, Health and the Income Gap,” the February edition of “The ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Report.”

By comparison, only 40% of low-income consumers work remotely from home, the report found.

In September 2022, Rent the Runway reported that it had seen a dip in its number of active subscribers due to the worsening macroeconomic environment and changes in consumer behavior after the pandemic.

One change in behavior has to do with the continuation of remote work, as the fashion rental and resale company said the share of subscriber activity that was related to rentals to wear to the office had dipped from about one-third in 2019 to one-fifth in the first half of 2022.

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