Now that conditions are perfect for this, people often joke that whenever you’re in a Zoom meeting sporting a shirt and tie and being all professional and stuff—that is actually all you’re wearing. Out of frame, you’re in your underwear living the life of work from home.
The pandemic has proven this to be true too many times, begging the question: how can you actually stay professional whilst letting yourself enjoy the perks of being at home, like crashing on the couch in your pajamas with your laptop on top of your lap?
Enter Whatever Inc. and their Work From Home Jammies. Bored Panda got in touch with Taichi Ito, Senior Designer at Whatever Inc., for an interview on the Work From Home Jammies.
The lockdown proved that people often wear just a shirt in their Zoom meetings, thus inspiring this bit of attire
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
Work From Home Jammies (a.k.a. WFH Jammies) are a combination of pajamas (some might venture to call them a sweatpants and pullover combo) and a formal shirt. Now, before you go ahead and say “oh, what’s the big deal? I wear sweatpants and shirts all the time,” this smart mix of attire has a bit of an altered formula.
Instead of a full shirt and full sweatpants, Whatever Inc. came out with a solution that would maximize the comfort of pajamas without any compromise to how professional you look on everybody’s computer screen during a Zoom meeting. The shirt part is minimized to about half the pullover—just enough to make it look like you’re wearing a proper shirt on camera. The rest of the outfit, however, is all comfort clothes.
The “joke becoming reality” bit mentioned in the start of the article is actually the inspiration behind this design. As explained on the creator’s Kickstarter page, there was an internal video conference call at the KUPL radio station with everyone working from home. Once the conference was over, one of the members really had to go to the toilet, and in the moment of urgency, he stood up and ended up exposing himself to his colleagues.
And who can blame him? He wanted to be comfortable all the while remaining professional, but whatever was comfortable was not really all that suitable for the camera.
Whatever Inc. came out with an idea to mash up a formal shirt with comfy jammies to be worn in telemeetings
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
They are designed to look professional in the computer screen without imposing a corporate stranglehold
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
As for the design itself, Ito told the story of how he came up with the concept for the outfit: "When remote work became more common, my wife went through the trouble of changing into casual office attire to attend a video conference, and I thought it would be a shame if she couldn't enjoy her work from home attire. Then I thought it would be nice if she could wear formal attire only for the part of the video screen."
And thus the Work From Home Jammies were born. The outfit was designed by Whatever Inc., a creative agency based in Tokyo, Japan, with the help of Akihiko Kimura, the designer behind the fashion brand LOKITHO.
The jammies come in 3 color variations: white shirt + gray jersey, pink shirt + black jersey, and blue stripe shirt + dark gray jersey. There are only 2 sizes available, however, which are M and L, but they are unisex, so your significant other can wear them if you’re having a day off or simply get bored of the outfit.
The shirt extends roughly halfway where it abruptly turns into a sweatshirt, supplemented with some sweatpants
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
Designed in collaboration with Akihiko Kimura, the jammies come in 3 color sets
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
Though the concept seems pretty straightforward, it wasn't without its challenges, as explained Ito:
"The border between the shirt and the jammies could have been a little lower, but for the visual interest of the garment, we prioritized the height of the shirt so that the pockets would be cut off in the middle, just barely visible on the video screen."
"We also aimed to create designs and variations that are so simple that you can wear them outside, even though they may seem like a joke if you just listen to them."
"In addition to proposing materials and colors to combine, we were also conscious of the speed of the process from planning to production and delivery. When it comes to sewing, just as with fashion basics products, we paid attention to the position and finish of each seam to ensure a strong and beautiful finish."
A Kickstarter campaign was also launched to see how viable the idea is, promising to ship as early as June
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
Among the crowdfunding perks, there's one where people can send in their own shirts to be jammy-fied
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
The company has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that has already met and exceeded its modest goal of $1,865 (€1,723). Funding rewards include a thank-you email and work from home style backgrounds for Zoom, as well as the actual clothing, either separately or as a full set for higher-tier donations. They have even included an option to send in your own shirt so that they can produce a custom jammy combo.
Could you imagine this becoming so commonplace that it would transcend the work from home aspect? Like, bring it to the office, given you work in a relaxed industry! We asked Whatever Inc. to ponder that possibility: "Originally, we made it because it is very humorous and we want to wear it! We honestly don't know if this project will ever become a standard or not in certain countries or cultures. But it is unique as a fashion item, so if you could wear it outside or in the office, it would be a good story to tell, and we would be happy. As remote work itself becomes more commonplace, we think we will see more and more designs like WFH Jammies that fit the new lifestyle."
At the moment, there are only two sizes—M and L—and the clothes are unisex, so sharing with SOs are an option
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
Now, there are no solid plans for making more versions of the WFH Jammies as the business side of things is yet to be determined, but there are hopes of selling them online: "We would like to continue to sell online, if possible. We hope people will be able to keep an eye on the future of this project on Kickstarter. We have also received many requests, so we would be happy to collaborate with a shirt brand."
If you're an interested shirt brand, here's the link to contact Whatever Inc?
The full outfit comes around to $112 or 103€, so if you want to grab a pair of comfy, Zoom-friendly jammies, the campaign will still be around for another 10 days, until May 21, 2020.
A full set can be acquired by supporting the company's Kickstarter campaign with ¥12,000 ($112 / €103)
Image credits: Whatever Inc.
Now, Ito did not disclose any future projects, but he did point out that Whatever Inc. has been a part of two other COVID-19 related projects, namely virtual backgrounds for Zoom or any other video conferencing systems supporting the function, punnily called Zoomoji, as well as their participation in PSA campaigns for Poster House and Print Magazine in the form posters that can be seen in NYC and LA starting this week (or you can see them here).
Before you go check those out, let us know what you thought of this! Would you wear this? Let us know in the comments section below!