Hanako Maeda is getting back to business. Adeam’s fall 2025 collection was all about workwear, or, rather, her interpretation of it: Maeda, a 30-something woman and brand founder, wanted to dress appropriately for her many meetings. Yet she found that corporate clothing hadn’t really evolved past the power suit— “It felt a little outdated and not very modern,” she said.
So Maeda decided to make some updates herself. She took a peacoat, for example, and added a neoprene hood. Her classic pair of black trousers came with a faux-leather gaiter flair, whereas the exaggerated pussybow on her blouse took up early the entire chest. A tuxedo dress featured a cascading ruffled collarbone.
Maeda said she looked to Yves Saint Laurent’s “Le Smoking” jacket and Coco Chanel’s tweed for how to elevate traditional silhouettes into more fashion forward territory. Then she put her own spin on things—the double-lapel Adeam jacket, for example, came in a bright cherry red and was paired with a dramatic skirt with a ruffled accent that pooled at the bottom of the wearer’s feet. Maeda, who is based in both New York and Tokyo, always knew that statement shade was going to feature prominently in this collection: “Red, especially red in Asian cultures, has this connotation of luck and also power,” she said. Power is a concept she’s been thinking about a lot lately, as women’s rights continue to be challenged around the globe. “I’m trying to visually code what it means to empower women—what it means to dress in a way that makes you feel like you’re strong and independent,” she said.
Granted, some of the more aesthetically adventurous designs seemed impractical for the standard everywoman’s office—a dress with a faux garter, albeit fascinatingly edgy, would likely only be worn in an investment bank’s conference room by Industry’s fictional finance influencer Sweetpea Golightly. Yet many of the pieces did feel like they could beautifully elevate one’s working wardrobe: an impeccably tailored wool midi skirt, an asymmetrical cotton dress shirt, a green long sleeve silk maxi dresses.
As workers across America face return-to-office mandates after years of post-pandemic flexibility, many women will need to add professional polish back into their wardrobes. With Adeam, they may even have some fun doing it.
