WANT to look good for a Zoom meeting but don’t want to get too dressed up? A Japanese apparel company has created a “pajama suit” that’s meant to resemble office attire but feel as snug as sleepwear.

Aoki Holdings is marketing the navy, beige, black and dark gray suits for both men and women to teleworkers as “more than pajamas and less than fashionable clothes.”

Sold as suit separates, the jackets are knit cardigans and can be mixed and matched with elastic-waist pants designed for sitting for long periods. All items in the collection cost 4,990 yen (US$48) each in Aoki’s online store.

The “pajama suit” highlights the ways clothing makers are trying to adapt as they struggle to sell business suits with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping office workers at home. Aoki has warned it will book billions of yen in losses this year.

A survey by the Pew Research Center shows that most Americans want to continue working from home even after the pandemic, suggesting apparel companies will need to continue to innovate in a new era of “office” work.

The global health crisis has only reinforced and accelerated a trend that was already in the spirit of the times. While suits have always been de rigueur, in recent years many men have taken the liberty of jettisoning their ties when temperatures soared.(SD-Agencies)