Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labor.[1] Often those employed within various trade industries elect to be outfitted in various forms of workwear because it is built to provide greater durability and safety.
The workwear clothing industry is growing[2] and consumers have numerous retailers to choose from. Buyers see workwear as the workhorse of the men's apparel business, one currently registering better increases than apparel overall. Chains that have made a commitment to the $1 billion and rising workwear business report steady 6 percent to 8 percent annual gains in men's workwear.[3]
Mass market retailers are wringing incremental sales out of workwear, making their stores destination outlets for the category.[3] Well-known retailers of workwear, such as Sears, J.C. Penney and Wal-Mart are very popular among consumers for direct sales.
As of late, other workwear retailers and workwear rental firms such as Workwear Depot, S&H Uniforms, The Working Persons Store, Cintas, Gemplers, G&L Clothing, Snickers Workwear, ImagePlus and Aramark have contributed to the growing number of retail choices available to potential workwear consumers.
Workwear Clothing can be seen as a crucial element in providing brand awareness for a company. Adding a brand logo to staff workwear is an effective method of increasing brand visibility and exposure at minimal cost to the organisation.[4] The logo is often applied using embroidery, Screen-printing or heat sealing.[5]
Workwear product lines run a wide gamut, ranging from Career Apparel assortments to flame-resistant clothing to safety footwear
There are two types of workwear, one that has to be worn (such as Hi Vis clothing) and one that is chosen to be worn, such as polos and fleeces with company logo on.
In the case of Hi Viz clothing there are legal requirement for various industries that mean these type of garments must be worn and dependant on where they are being worn will have different specifications.
In the case of polos and fleeces, there is generally not a legal requirement to wear these type of garments, however they may be a local government requirement in order to do business with them. Generally polos with logos are to make a company employee recognisable to a customer.
In the UK, if workwear is provided to an employee without a logo, it may be subject to income tax being levied on the employee for a "payment in kind" However if company clothing is provided with logos on then the employee may be entitled to a tax rebate to help pay for the up keep.[6]