Work it

Below: fashion overalls in the autumn/winter 2022 collections of, from left to right, Kenzo, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana

Once the preserve of mechanics, pilots and farmers, overalls are now all the rage with fashion’s tastemakers. Wear yours in tactile silk or stylish selvedge for a glamorous take on traditional workwear

Words by Finlay Renwick

Think of the humble overall – that perennial blue-collar staple – and you might conjure up an image of a farmer manning the controls of a combine harvester; or perhaps a car mechanic in washed-out bleu de travail, smeared with motor oil, working under a bonnet; or maybe a hotshot fighter pilot barrel-rolling at Mach speed. You might even think of Steve McQueen, sideburned and pensive in his famous Le Mans uniform, that white Gulf racing suit with the TAG logo and myriad team sponsors – so iconic that it sold for $336,000 (£280,000) at auction back in 2017. What you might not think of are the runways of Europe’s top fashion houses. But, against the odds, that’s exactly where the overall has ended up.

Possibly inspired by Norfolk farmcore or, more likely, the wider workwear, motorsport and general “functional” gear trends that have been infiltrating menswear of late, the racing/biking/fixing a tricky transmission overall is all over the runway right now. Kenzo’s artistic director, Nigo, has doubled up on selvedge denim – or tripled up if you include the matching baker-boy hat. Prada appears to be channelling “hazmat chic” for those who haven’t had their fill of PPE over the past few years. Dolce & Gabbana, meanwhile, has dressed up its version with a plethora of zip pockets. None of these fashionable takes on the overall resembles a garment you’d put on to actually mend anything, proving that what was once a purely functional piece of workwear has moved a long, long way from the farm and the forecourt.

Of course, Goodwood’s racing-inspired overalls have long been a bestseller, but they are undoubtedly used for practical reasons as well as simply to be seen in. Perhaps most interestingly – and relevant to the overall’s automotive origins – is that two of motorsport’s biggest names are going all in on the luxury fashion market. AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s Italian diffusion line, and Ferrari have both launched meticulously designed, luxury-leaning fashion collections, with catwalk shows and creative teams lured away from some of Europe’s leading design houses. And yes, Ferrari does have Ferrari-red overalls in its autumn/winter line-up. The bet is that – much like in the world of watches, where brands have long partnered with the world of racing – affluent shoppers will want a hit of the high-octane lifestyle with their clothes as well as their cars. Time to zip up.

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