Decade’s identity for workwear brand Argent utilises their innate vibrancy and refined subtlety

New York-based design agency Decade have spent 2020 rebranding women’s workwear brand Argent, which produces pieces that give a contemporary take on workwear – modern workwear for the modern work environment. Creating clothes that have a genuine consideration for functionality, such as actually having pockets, Argent needed a new identity that reflected this discernment and forward-thinking attitude.

With a total overhaul of the brand, Decade have worked closely with Argent in crafting a new visual identity alongside a fresh creative direction and marketing material – all produced with a mindset as progressive as the brand itself, designed to be adaptable, flexible and future-focused.

“We drew the logo mark to have a nod to Argent’s previous brand identity,” Decade recall, “which had a theme of a forward slash to reference the office and technical writing.” Feeling slightly clunky and outdated, Decade looked to instead produce something with more “nuance and subtlety,” keeping the heritage of the previous identity through the cut-off of the ‘A’ on the logomark. Discussing the use of Colophon Foundry’s Mabry as their primary typeface, Decade explain that “Mabry has these lovely squared-off tops and bottoms on letters like the ‘M’ and ‘W’, so it felt like the right fit to pair with the logo.”

Complementing Mabry is Commercial Type’s Lyon Text No. 2, exclusively used in situ with the former. “We wanted to bring an element of formalness to the modern shapes and colour blocking,” Decade tell us, “so a serif helps there.” Together the pair create an elegant tension that reflects the binary nature of the brand itself; with one side rooted in the functionality of traditional workwear, and the other looking at the modern needs of those in the workplace.

Matching this refinement is the wonderful selection of colours across the brand, inspired by the clothes themselves. Explaining how one of the exciting offerings of Argent is the vibrancy of their workwear, Decade note that “so many brands that do suiting for women are in a black, white, and charcoal palette,” suggesting that “Argent’s sophisticated use of colour really sets their collections apart.”

Decade

Argent