Amid a rocky luxury climate and changing consumer tastes, the fashion world is getting grounded.
In Miu Miu’s presentation in Paris last month, creative director Miuccia Prada outfitted models in aprons and other industrial attire, with sturdy utilitarian footwear. “In fashion, we always talk about glamour and rich people, but we have to recognize also that life is very different,” the creative director told reporters after the show.
Fendi, meanwhile, sent so many Red Wing collab boots down the runway for spring 2025 that it caught even the boot maker by surprise. And for several seasons, workwear brands like Carhartt and Timberland have been go-to collaborators for top designers.
High-end labels are looking for a genuine narrative, according to experts.
“It’s sort of unclear where the whole luxury market is going, so I think grounding themselves with an authentic work brand is a great way to bring some authenticity to what they’re doing,” explained Matt Powell, senior adviser at BCE Consulting. “People are using these [industrial apparel and footwear] products every day in their work lives to be safe and to perform better, and that authenticity is something that luxury has lost a little bit of right now.”
Miu Miu’s spring 2026 ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week featured industrial attire and utilitarian boots.
Giovanni GIannoni/WWD
Work brands experience a halo effect as well, he added. “It elevates them. It helps set them apart from their peers,” Powell said.
And as with any collaborative project, both brands gain access and visibility with a new group of potential customers.
Powell sees few risks to these kinds of partnerships, except that “it might be embarrassing if the product doesn’t sell out in the first weekend.” But workwear brands, which have gone through these trend cycles many times, haven’t always viewed the fashion sphere as a win-win.
“For a long time, we called it ‘the F word,’” Red Wing chief executive officer Allison Gettings told FN this year. She recalled that customers in Europe and Japan organically began adopting Red Wing boots as a style choice in the 1970s and ’80s, but the brand never courted that market. “We were not a fashion brand. We were very leery of becoming trendy.”
It wasn’t until 2007, when J.Crew suggested a collaboration, that the brand began to support the lifestyle business, eventually creating a special division now called Red Wing Heritage. (That group was responsible for its buzzy Fendi collab.)
“It has its own product teams and its own marketing teams,” said Gettings. “So we fully embrace it today, but we kind of came there kicking and screaming.”
Others continue to be somewhat wary of that world. Despite Carhartt’s widespread adoption by the style set, the brand isn’t eager to highlight its fashion influence. After initially declining to speak with FN, it sent this statement: “Carhartt workwear is purpose-built with every stitch, pocket and button intentionally designed to perform for those who depend on gear that works as hard as they do. By staying true to its values and not chasing trends, Carhartt remains focused on serving its consumers who are united by a shared commitment to hard work.”
Sacai and Carhartt WIP debuted their third collab collection for fall 2025.
Courtesy of brands
Some caution is understandable. In today’s increasingly polarized culture, any business decision can have major unanticipated ramifications, should one fanbase or another take umbrage. Brands looking to expand into other categories must perform a balancing act, simultaneously maintaining their focus on the core customer while translating their message to a new audience.
For workwear brands, a crucial element of their formula is to have distinct divisions. Red Wing created its Heritage collection. Much of Carhartt’s lifestyle and fashion output comes from its European-based partner, Carhartt WIP, established in 1994. And Timberland spun off its work business to a separate label in 1999.
Nina Flood, global brand president of Timberland, recalled that the brand has its roots in the work world — its iconic Original Yellow Boot was created to protect outdoor workers in New England, but that style has since evolved into a fashion staple. So a new group was born to meet the needs of tradespeople.
“We launched Timberland Pro to drive true innovation in the industrial work category, delivering comfort, performance and protection for the skilled trades,” she said.
Flood added that Timberland remains committed to serving the work customer, even when it explores outside collaborations. “When we think about extending Timberland Pro into the lifestyle space, authenticity reigns supreme,” she said. “We can certainly stretch our brand and dip into lifestyle, but we always need to keep the work consumer at the center. That’s non-negotiable.”
Completely siloing lifestyle collabs from the core work line could be a missed opportunity, though.
Powell recommended footwear brands find more ways to monetize their partnerships, perhaps by bringing a color or material element from the upmarket product into the core collection. “That way, the buzz that’s created by the collaboration can spill over into a commercial product that sells in quantity,” he said.