Ralph Lauren and Coach benefit from U.S. return-to-office workwear shift

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Ralph Lauren & Coach workwear shift

Highlights

Ralph Lauren posts 13 per cent revenue growth and Coach achieves 15 per cent sales growth in the most recent quarter, driven by increased office-workwear demand.
Return-to-office mandates from employers like Amazon and JPMorgan are set to boost required U.S. office days 9 per cent between August 2024 and August 2025, supporting formalwear sales.
Ralph Lauren and Coach, after years of reducing discounting and doubling marketing spend, gain share as consumers shift away from athleisure and accessible premium brands outperform struggling competitors like J Crew and Gap.

Workwear demand supports brand turnrounds

As first reported by Financial Times, Ralph Lauren and Tapestry's Coach brand are emerging as key beneficiaries of a return to office-based work that is lifting demand for more formal clothing and accessories. Ralph Lauren reports a 13 per cent revenue increase in its most recent quarter, while Coach, which makes up most of Tapestry's business, reports 15 per cent sales growth.

Laurent Vasilescu, a retail analyst at BNP Paribas, says the accelerating shift back to in-office work is a major driver of that performance because more time at work raises the need for office-ready wardrobes. Flex Index data shows employers including Amazon and JPMorgan announce return-to-office mandates in 2025, pushing the average number of required office days nationwide up 9 per cent from August 2024 to August 2025.

Both brands are also benefiting from turnround plans that start years earlier. Ralph Lauren launches a new strategic plan in 2018, sharply reducing discounting, and by 2022 cuts off-price sales and exits hundreds of weak department store locations. Tapestry also begins reducing discounted inventory in 2020, while both companies roughly double marketing spending over their respective repositioning periods.

That timing matters because sales growth at both brands remains subdued between 2020 and 2023 while consumers stick with work-from-home dressing. Euromonitor says athletic wear and athleisure sales grow more than 40 per cent from 2020 to 2023, while dress categories take a hit, reflecting how strongly pandemic habits reshape apparel demand.

Retail shift favors affordable premium labels

Recent market data suggests the dress-up cycle is strengthening beyond office wear alone. In the first half of 2025, sold-out loafer listings rise 26 per cent at major U.S. and UK retailers, while sneaker sell-outs fall 8 per cent, according to Edited, and GlobalData survey data shows 59 per cent of Americans say they dress smart, up from 49 per cent in 2022.

At the same time, activewear growth slows to 7 per cent between 2023 and 2025, according to Euromonitor. Jessica Ramirez, a retail consultant, says dressier trends are pushing shoppers toward investment pieces that remain attainable for consumers priced out of designer labels, leaving Ralph Lauren and Coach in a favorable middle ground between luxury and fast fashion.

The companies also appear to be taking share from rivals. J Crew struggles to develop a coherent strategy under private equity ownership and its comparable sales fall 8 per cent last year, while Gap shares fall 18 per cent this year, partly because of weak dress sales at Old Navy.

Analysts say the improved backdrop is also being reinforced by economic pressure and a tougher labor market, which encourage consumers to present themselves more formally at work and at events. Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail says the long-running efforts by Ralph Lauren and Coach culminate at a moment when shoppers are actively looking for more polished styles, turning years of brand rebuilding into a timely commercial advantage.

Our earlier coverage of the drop in U.S. consumer sentiment and retail sales examined how higher food and energy costs were squeezing household budgets and pushing inflation expectations up. We noted that the pullback was sharpest among lower-income and older Americans, adding to uncertainty around borrowing costs and the Federal Reserve’s policy path.

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