Survey: Latvian women feel most confident in corporate settings when wearing a suit

“Leadership attire is always a message — both to others and to oneself. It can provide energy, set the mood, or inspire, but it can also undermine. That is why we wanted to find out which clothing becomes a source of strength for Latvians at work. Interestingly, women use the suit as a symbol of confidence and professionalism twice as often as men. In the Olsen+Partners survey, 34% of women responded this way, compared to only 17% of men. For men, trousers provide the greatest sense of confidence and professionalism, while the jacket is far less important — 23% admitted this. Clothing is also a mirror of social processes: it is not only about fashion or beauty, but about how we interact. That is why we want to explore this issue on a deeper level, in collaboration with a designer and researcher who has prepared a doctoral thesis at the Art Academy of Latvia on this subject,” says Olga Kazaka, partner at Olsen+Partners.

In her recently completed study What’s Wrong With This Woman? The Agency of the Power Suit in Constructing Female Identity in the Context of Fashion as Communication, designer Una Pūpola addresses the role of women in the corporate environment in the context of power and gender stereotypes. After conducting extensive research and interviewing 19 senior-level managers in Latvia, she drew conclusions about women’s mobility in power structures in relation to visual identity.

Una Pūpola points out that the price of femininity is still the persistent association of power positions with masculinity in people’s minds, as well as socially defined expectations regarding the management of women’s bodies, especially in professional settings. In visual communication, Latvian women leaders share a strong self-confidence rooted in professional competence. It is a sense of power awareness earned through purposeful work. They lead people and drive processes, including strategically using their visual image as an additional communication channel. “In the visual image of leaders across different industries and countries, one can observe both common traits and differing rules. The main differences relate to clothing colors, patterns, and the degree of body exposure — for example, in Scandinavia or Eastern markets, in the banking sector or creative industries, the approach may vary. Based on my professional experience as a woman and leader in the corporate world, later as a fashion designer and researcher, and on the stories of successful women, we can attribute a dual agency to the ‘power suit’ as a corporate uniform — both empowering, while at the same time historically a way of entering the patriarchal business environment by imitating men,” explains researcher Una Pūpola.

As part of her research, Una Pūpola has also created a women’s clothing collection What’s Wrong With This Woman?. The collection consists of 12 outfits. “In my designs, I wanted to show how a woman communicates and debates through the ‘power suit.’ The ‘power suit’ is a ‘popular weapon’ found in most women leaders’ wardrobes. It is a ‘convenient’ tool of self-presentation in the professional environment, helping not only to signal belonging to the corporate world but also to reduce responsibility by avoiding mistakes in dress, for example, under stressful circumstances caused by lack of time,” says Una Pūpola. As a result, a special accessory for women leaders has also been created and will be presented soon.

Collection photo gallery available here**

*The survey was conducted by the market research company Norstat, interviewing 1017 Latvian residents aged 18 to 74, commissioned by Olsen+Partners.

References for Una Pūpola’s collection What’s Wrong With This Woman? photos:

Panopticon
Photographer: Madara Šaicāne
MUAH: Viktorija Breikša
Models: Jūlija Skuteļska (System Baltics), Diāna Vavilova (Moon Models)
Creative Assistants: Krista Mežavilka, Elīna Pērkone
Location: THE SPOT sports studio

Habitus
Photographer: Madara Šaicāne
MUAH: Viktorija Breikša
Models: Alise Egija Bezručko, Aurēlija Kauce, Evelīna Pole (System Baltics)
Creative Assistants: Krista Mežavilka, Elīna Pērkone
Location: DAUDERI museum

Simulacrum
Photographer: Madara Šaicāne
MUAH: Viktorija Breikša
Model: Anna Bogdanova
Creative Assistants: Krista Mežavilka, Madlēna Ūdre
Location: KASE café

Male Gaze
Photographer: Madara Šaicāne
MUAH: Viktorija Breikša
Model: Aleksandra Daniela Ābele (Septembre Management)
Creative Assistants: Krista Mežavilka, Madlēna Ūdre
Location: OAD architecture office