“Something we come back to is that what we’re making is really empowering the staff – you want them to look at the garment and be like, ‘Fuck yeah, I want to wear that’, as opposed to, ‘Oh my god, I need to wear this again’,” says Huw Bennett, director of hospitality workwear label Worktones.
Now with 10 years under the brand’s belt, Bennett has figured out how to harness that positive workwear energy. Since moving away from his previous menswear label, Vanishing Elephant – “I sold my share – I was done with travel and the general ideology of the seasons, trade shows and just chasing your tail” – Bennett has embraced a combination of utilitarian uniforms and thoughtful design, an ethos that was set from the very first Worktones commission: for off-the-path hotel Pumphouse Point in Tasmania.
“I had someone who put me forward to do a few pieces for the hotel and the brief was like: ‘the person wearing this uniform is going to check you in, they’re also going to chop firewood, they’re also going to make you a Martini at the end of the night’,” Bennett says. “It sounds like a horror brief, but I was like, ‘yeah, this is right up my alley’.”
Since that first brief, the hallmarks of Worktones have been clear in the garments Bennett and the team have made for clients like Melbourne sandwich royalty Hector’s Deli, Josh Niland’s seafood fine diner St Peter, Sydney’s boundary-pushing AP Bakery (plus spin-off AP Bread and Wine), Brisbane restaurant group Anyday (behind Agnes, Bianca, Same Same), and more: strong design, work-ready functionality and natural fabrics that shift and change over time. “I guess with natural fabrics, you will get a natural patina and fade on them and, for us, that’s a badge of honour,” he says.
Worktones pieces are split between bespoke orders and ready-to-wear staples. They include work shirts, boilersuits, jackets, aprons and pants, all designed to last in the rugged hospitality environment – and look good while doing so. The brand’s style has remained pretty consistent since that first Pumphouse order, but Bennett has seen a few shifts in what the industry is looking for.
“We’re getting approached by a broader audience now who are learning and appreciating that it’s less about synthetics, less about these tight silhouettes,” Bennett says. “Gone are the days of a pencil skirt and an ill-fitting cardigan, [it’s] more about something that staff really want to wear and enjoy [wearing], because the working day is such a big part of everyone’s life.”
The attractiveness of Worktones pieces is, really, all about wearing something to work that looks and feels great. “It’s about beautiful silhouettes and nice fabrics, but it’s not overly complicated,” Bennett says. “It’s not rocket science. You put it on, work eight hours – you want to look good, feel good, work good.”
While Worktones continues to set the tone for workwear across Australian hospitality, Bennett is looking ahead to the brand’s future, though upcoming changes lean more towards subtle evolution than radical departure. Soon, expect to see a new shirt-style chef’s jacket and a collaboration with Sydney’s Provider store.
With a decade behind him and plenty more to come, Bennett feels that he and Worktones are part of the hospitality furniture. “I’m pretty confident that we will always be relevant,” he says. “There is a need, and what we make is as much about looking good. Chefs will always need an apron, front-of-house will always need a waist apron, all those little obvious ticks of the box. If you’re going to open a venue and you’re going to spend a lot of money on fitting it out and having a great chef, well you need us to tie it all together.”
