In an all-too-literal take on the aphorism “dress for the job you want, not the one you have,” preppy clothes-maker J.Crew has struck up a partnership with aspirational career companies WeWork and LinkedIn.
No, the three companies haven’t made any clothes together—rather, they’re teaming up for an ad campaign and a series of talks with entrepreneurs in cities like Atlanta and New York. J.Crew is inviting speakers, sponsored by LinkedIn and WeWork, to events hosted in its stores. The three-way collaboration is a natural, almost obvious, fit. GQ writer Cam Wolf explains it this way: “As modern-day workers change from office-dwelling and desk-strapped to always-on-the-job and always-on-the-go, J.Crew is betting that their wardrobes will need a refresh as well.”
The synergy amongst the trio, in addition to tapping into a new paradigm for work, also speaks to WeWork’s steady and surprising climb into the mainstream, which was built on that paradigm.