From honing her craft at Levi’s and Alexander Wang to launching her namesake label, the designer has transformed traditional officewear into something entirely her own.

PHOTOGRAPHY Jacq Harriet&nbsp;
STYLED BY Trinidad Alamos&nbsp;
Jane Wade’s free time is spent hiking, camping on the water, paddle boarding, and crafting. And there was no reason her brand’s corporate heroine couldn’t embark on a similar journey. “What happens when we marry her with the girl who is going upstate with her running pack and her Merrells on?” asks the Oregon native, who blended her namesake label’s office-ready roots with an outdoorsy spirit for Fall 2026’s “The Summit,” a collection outfitted with hydrojugs, paracords, and, in one look, an actual parachute. “We are sort of creating these variables to the rule in the crossover episodes that become the collections, and that is just a fun space that I am playing with. I’m also trying to layer more of my personal self into the story.”
Wade’s understanding of clothing was first shaped by technical, sport, and outdoor influences. After studying at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and Central Saint Martins in London, she refined her sewing skills at Levi’s and interned at Alexander Wang before joining the Danielle Frankel design team as an assistant in 2019. Two years later she set out on her own, freelancing for New York labels, including Elena Velez and Kiki de Montparnasse.
After years of experience across the industry, Wade was ready to take matters into her own hands, launching her label with a series of corp-core collections titled “The Commute,” “Out of Office,” “The Audit,” “The Merger,” and “The Fulfillment.” “It was really emotional when I launched the brand,” says Wade. “In the corporate places I worked, I really struggled with feeling like people authentically wanted to help me.”

In building her company, Wade turned the frustration she developed toward corporate culture into something more playful: a wardrobe for the coolest girls who work all day and socialize all night. She describes the label as “a cheeky play on a 9-to-5 corporate workwear uniform,” designed for creatives who move seamlessly from back-to-back meetings to date nights and drinks with friends.
Building on that narrative, Wade looked to her own designer icons and the way they’ve evolved their lines from one collection to the next. “Some of my heroes in this space, like Miuccia Prada, have built the legacy of a brand over many decades,” she says. “They are consistently visiting similar themes for who the customer is, but they are telling the story through a new lens.”
Looking ahead to Spring/Summer 2027, the designer hints at “continuing down the trail” and exploring what happens when the wintery glacier of “The Summit” melts. From the sound of it, the Jane Wade girl isn’t ready to return to the office just yet.

MODEL: Lola Bebe THE INDUSTRY MODEL MANAGEMENT
HAIR:&nbsp;Ginger Leigh Ryan using ROZ HAIR
MAKEUP:&nbsp;Sophie Hartnett using MAC COSMETICS
MANICURE:&nbsp;Mamie Onishi SEE MANAGEMENT using CHANEL BEAUTY
PRODUCED BY:&nbsp;Emily Adar
PHOTO ASSISTANTS: Juan Cuartas Rueda and Evan Odiorn

How Jane Wade Built Fashion’s Coolest Corporate World

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