The Hindu Business Line : Cool, casual and comfortable

There's no better place than the IT sector as far as workplace dressing is concerned because here you can be cool, flexible and dynamic, all at the same time.

If comfortable clothing means increased productivity, then yes, at Trilogy we can dress up like we would at home," says Nitin Gupta, Senior Developer at Trilogy Software. Although this statement may seem a bit revolutionary even for the `most happening' sector in the country, there's a belief that the IT industry is `a tad ahead of others' when it comes to work-wear. There's no doubt that Indian geeks are strongly influenced by the `America' factor.

Dressing down, Friday dressing and smart casuals are fashion terms born in the Silicon Valley and mailed directly to Bangalore, India's IT capital.

Most IT and ITES employees concur on one issue when it comes to dressing for work: comfortable clothing does increase their productivity. A reason why the concept of smart casuals is fast catching up in other associated industries as well.

Says Vinod Kumar, General Manager - South, BPM Solution Group, Automated Workflow Pvt Ltd, "We need to wear clothes that are comfortable because most of the time we work indoors and from our chairs. We have to wear clothes that breathe easily."

At Automated Workflow, business casuals would mean button down short-sleeved shirts. "Some of us even wear drawstring pants with leather slides," says Kumar. But the company has reined in this casual trend, lest it gets too informal, by declaring Thursdays as formal-wear days. Kumar jokes that this is because "we cannot afford to forget what it's like to be formal."

For the sales staff at this IT company, however, there's no escaping the stiff `white-shirt-dark-pant' dress code.

"Relaxation in dressing is only for the technical staff who do not need to interact with clients on a regular basis. The sales team at Workflow is formally dressed because `other sectors' have not started dressing down as yet," says Kumar.

Nitin Sharma, E Strategist at vMoksha Technologies, however, believes that clients are becoming less rigid when it comes to dressing. This again is because most IT companies follow trends that are currently `in' in the US.

"One of the reasons why you see business casuals in our industry is because clients are not very fussy. Most of them only insist on clean business formals. Another reason is that most of the client interaction is over telephone," says Sharma.

But he agrees that dressing does impact work output a lot. Talking of his preferences, he says, "For formal occasions, I like to wear Van Heusen and Arrow brands. My casuals I get from Adidas, Nike and Golf stores." At vMoksha, Fridays are the days for smart casuals. But employees are barred from wearing round necks, jeans, sweaters and large prints on shirts or T-shirts, he says. Most IT companies these days have customised T-shirts with the company logo imprinted on them. Srinath Gopalakrishna, Head of Marketing, NetKraft Pvt Ltd, says, "Absolute formal dressing is out and we follow the `smart casual style.'" But, "this does not mean we turn up in shorts or chappals," he adds quickly.

Smart casuals are khakis and cottons. On weekdays, NetKraft employees are seen only in pastel shirts and dark coloured pants. "And solid colours for shirts are a no-no," he says.

While the IT sector is seen as a trendsetter for smart casual clothing in the country's corporate world, the ITES industry is seen as an extended college campus.

Some companies allow funky and whacky clothes on any day of the week, but most BPOs insist on sobriety on weekdays and indulgence on weekends. "There's no difference between a college campus and our office on Fridays," says Chethan Prakash, Customer Care Representative, Accenture. Mondays through Thursdays are formal days at this Bangalore-based BPO, but Fridays are the days to dress down.

Describing the nuances of this new sartorial culture, Madhusudan K.V., a Technical Support Representative at Accenture, says, "For me, formals mean branded clothes such as Allen Solly or Peter England. Shoes are also formal, and they are generally from Lee Cooper."

Friday is when he follows the `inside out' style — a full-sleeved T-shirt worn under a smaller short-sleeved T-shirt. He matches this with sports shoes and finishes the outfit with `rudraksha beads' worn around his neck. Does this funky attire make him stick out at work? "Yes, I do stand out," he admits.

Says Abhishek Majumdar, also a customer care representative at Accenture, "There are some people who come in hip-ups and loose jeans on Fridays, considered part of the weekend at Accenture, but reserve the other four days for business casuals like khakis."

On whether these dressing trends are influencing styles in other industries, Gopalakrishna of Netkraft says, "It definitely has. I have seen some of our business associates take off their ties when they enter our office."

He also has another take on why this `smart casual trend' is seen more in cities like Bangalore and Chennai. "Because of a large presence of IT employees, retailers stock apparel only in the `smart casual' category. Therefore, the other sector employees are forced to change their style."

Gupta of Trilogy is convinced that there is no better world than the `IT world because here you can be cool, flexible and dynamic, all at the same time.'

Location courtesy: ADP Corp, Hyderabad

Picture by A. Roy Chowdhury

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