How to Be the Best Uniform Store in Vancouver

Did you know that the third largest city in Canada is the Greater Vancouver area with a population of just under two and a half million residents? Not only that but this city has been named as one of the best cities with a better quality of life to live in, perhaps that’s why everyone is rushing to move there. 

With its world-known universities and corporate communities. The demand for jobs has doubled over the past few decades with more startups being established, people getting their innovative ideas out there, and no longer looking to work for others anymore. Without forgetting that it is located on the Pacific rim with its highways and railways, the industrial centers have also been growing exponentially, and so have the demand for uniforms and uniform stores to cater to all the workers in their overalls and branded kits. 

Considering Other Types of Uniforms

When we think about the concept of uniforms, the first thing that comes to mind is schools, students, and their attire i.e. which is mainly comprised of a uniform. What we miss thinking about is all the other categories of uniforms that are out there and don’t get half as much attention as pupils do. But we’re changing things now and focusing on a new kind of popular trend, one of the corporate uniforms and how significant a part they play in society, and how it is often ignored. 

Let’s take a step back for a minute.

In the year 1920 in Moscow, a famous Bolshevik artist-designer named Varvara Stepanova as part of her design project created 150 different designs and textiles. The prints comprised of different optical illusions and abstract shapes with bold colors and unusual patterns. These caught the eyes of many admirers and then went on the idea of mass-producing them to sell in retail stores to a wider audience. 

This idea did not fascinate her as she began to see the market of art as a mediocre dampening of any creativity being mass-produced and sold by the numbers but with no special meaning behind these items. She felt that this industry was restricted. This idea then became what we now know as the production of uniforms, all with the same ideas behind them, none with any essence of individuality. 

However, with the trend of the modern era, this has changed within the workplaces at least. What was once a repetitive pattern of men wearing suits and tube ties with no patterns of colors besides black and white, has now changed to more bold appeal and daring experimentation in the workplace. What was once the norm of women to wear pencil skirts and collared shirts, has now become floral prints and pleated pants. 

The Corporate Image

Walk into any business or store and see what people are wearing to work. Can you tell the difference between someone who works in an art gallery and someone who works at a law firm? Yes, now we can. Because what once were stores that were run by tailors who sold fitted suits and made for hire clothing, has now changed to attire work as a personal brand and symbol. What we now call the semiotics or symbolism of clothing, has turned into a very different concept from what it originally was.

What was once a symbol of practicality has now become a voice of individuality and personality. We identify people by their attire, and immediately have an idea in our heads about them (or an assumption thereof). Needless to say, uniforms hold to this notion as well. When we see people in uniform for example nurses, air hostesses, a judge, or a doctor we immediately identify them and know what they do.

But in corporate, it’s a different story. The associations we make of working-class people is slightly different. This online source, for example, tells a tale of the idea of symbolism within the world and the culture of coding in clothes https://attireclub.org/2013/05/19/clothing-as-symbols/

In the corporate world, it seems, image is important. What you wear tells your story, and people often strive to create a message out of the uniforms and wardrobe that they wear. Picture someone walking into a meeting room wearing a t-shirt that says ‘punk rock sucks!’, torn jeans and a chain wallet with Dr. Martens boots, and his or her colleague walks into the same room wearing a pinstripe pencil skirt, clean and shiny high-heels, a white collared ironed out shirt, and a button-down jacket. Can you guess who the people in the room will take more seriously? 

You guessed it! Unfortunately, in some parts of the world, the inclusion of your image is still just as important as wearing a seat belt while driving. It is something that holds a sort of undeniable status. We do agree, that a well put together corporate uniform can make a difference between giving a good impression of the company or a bad one, to any potential customers out there.  

What Uniform Stores Should Consider

At the risk of sounding biased. A lot of uniform stores sell similar items of clothing. In getting with the times we think that uniform stores should consider adding some flair to their outfits. Unless you sell attire to specific companies that have a well-established brand and a logo of their name stitched onto every jersey, one can easily add some variety to their catalogs. 

With new businesses mushrooming up every season in Vancouver’s densely populated areas, many of the new generations have turned towards doing their own thing, and businesses such as stores that sell uniforms like https://www.shopkeyclothing.com/, have been in high demand not just for the corporate companies that already exist and have contracts with them, but also for the newbies on the block that also want something more transitional and concrete – a brand of uniform that spells their name across someone’s chest. 

Business niches that are always in need of uniforms include hospitality, tourism, athlete apparel, medical to name a few and it is up to the uniform stores to make sure that the people wearing them look and feel like they are a part of something – that they belong, and there is no better way than showing this by wearing a uniform.