Here come the girls

A major trend at this year’s A+A Exhibition being held in
Dusseldorf from October 18th – 21st is the showcasing
of professional clothing designed specifically for
women.Textile journalist Kirsten Rein reports

The number of women working in
industry and trade is growing
slowly but steadily. The most
popular professions include gardening,
carpentry and joinery, painting, tiling
and mechatronics. In order to pursue
these activities to the full extent of their
abilities, women must be appropriately
clad – a requirement which the leading
providers of protective and professional
clothing are now meeting. At the A+A
2011 in Düsseldorf, the leading
international industry event for safety,
security and health at work, which will
be held from October 18th-21st, they
will showcase numerous innovations
specifically tailored to the needs of the
supposedly “weaker” sex.

Women are no longer a rare sight in many
career paths with “roll up your sleeves”
requirements. These include, for example,
horticulture, interior construction, and
many jobs in industry. Last year in Berlin, a
job ad had several newspaper readers
rubbing their eyes in disbelief. “Speedy
Street Sweeper Seeks 60 Female
Colleagues”, read the announcement
placed by the BSR, Berlin’s municipal
cleaning department. As it turned out, 63
women were recruited. These have been
keeping the city streets clean by wielding
cleaning carts, brooms and street sweepers
alongside their male counterparts ever
since. An article published in the 8/2011
issue of Der Spiegel on the same topic,
entitled “Flotte Feger am Riesenrüssler”
(“Speedy Sweepers and their Mighty
Machines”) features a quote by Genevieve
Krüger, one of the newly-hired women:
“During the first couple of weeks, they
(the male street-sweepers) tested us to see
if we could pull our weight. After that, no
more was said.”
More and more companies are now
developing different approaches in order
to attract women to typically masculine
jobs. This is confirmed by Wenka
Wentzel from the Girls’ Day – Future
Prospects for Girls campaign organised by
the Competence Center Technology-
Diversity-Equal Chances: “Organisations
which have taken part in our career
orientation campaign on several occasions
have increased their outreach activities
and are offering more technically-oriented
internships and placements. They are also
working closely with schools to attract
girls and young women. The converse is
also happening. More and more girls are
developing an interest in careers in
technology and the natural sciences and are
seeing the opportunities available in these
fields in an increasingly positive light.”
Looking back shows that there is
nothing unusual about women working
in industry. This long tradition has its
roots in the industrialisation which took
place at the beginning of the previous
century. Since then, Germany as a
location for industry has completely
changed, as have its resident industries.

While women were once frequently
employed in the textile and food
industries, nowadays they tend to work
for IT, solar power companies, and the
automotive and pharmaceutical
industries. The bigger the company, the
more likely it is that all its employees will
be outfitted with the appropriate work
attire. In many cases, female employees
receive uniforms designed for the female
figure – like, for example, those made for
female police or security officers.

Trousers – the decisive
difference
Joachim Geyer, key account manager at
Kübler Bekleidungswerk in
Plüdershausen, one of the exhibitors at
A+A, explains: “Previously, workwear for
female employees was simply the men’s
sizes minus 6 inches. As the smallest
men’s size available was usually a
European 44, the women’s sizes 34 and 36
were not even available. Nowadays most
companies – like Mercedes, for example –
have workwear designed especially for
women as a matter of course. In general,
tops are less important than trousers.

Women usually just wear XS polo shirts.”
Kübler provides uniforms for companies
like Solarworld Werke in Freiberg. “Just
over 16 percent of our workforce is
female,” says Susanne Herrmann of
Solarworld Freiberg. “That’s more than
the national average. Our female
employees wear the same as the men –
trousers, a t-shirt, and a jacket, all in
Solarworld AG’s corporate design. The
only difference is in the cut, which is
more feminine.” The workwear was
introduced back in 2006, following trials
to test (primarily) the workwear’s comfort
and washability.

“Major industry customers are now
coming forward with their design ideas
and clothing requirements. Workwear for
women is now being required as a matter
of course,” says Stephan Schwarz, Head of
Product Management at Bardusch, a linen
rental company in Ettlingen (one of the
exhibitors at A+A 2011). “When it comes
to smaller companies, it depends entirely
on the relationship between the provider
and the company, and whether the boss is
female”, says Dirk Hischemöller,
managing director of DBL in Zirndorf.

Conversely, as workwear has become
more casual and modern, it is becoming
more accepted and increasingly popular
among employees. Women don’t
necessarily want to be clothed differently
from men. As trousers have to fit
properly, though, they are the exception.

BP Bierbaum Proenen in Neuss has,
therefore, created a special women’s
“work trouser” for employees in trades
and industry. These trousers are part of its
“Workfashion?” collection and are
specifically tailored to fit the female form.

The company will also showcase its range
of women’s polo shirts, which come in a
wide assortment of colours, at the A+A
2011.

Overalls – it’s the little things
Kübler provides women’s overalls with
higher waists. These dungaree-style
trousers feature an elasticated waistband
which ensures a snugger fit and prevents
unwanted exposure. The bib is somewhat
smaller than the men’s version, and there
is no bib pocket, as experience has shown
that women don’t like them. A small
interior pocket, on the other hand, has
proved extremely useful. The voluminous
“bellows-shaped” pockets have also been
eliminated. “While they do require
trousers and dungarees with smaller
waistbands, larger hip measurements, and
more narrowly-cut legs, women are happy
with unisex work jackets and t-shirts.

These are less form-fitting than
fashionable women’s tops – and this is
seen as an advantage when performing
manual labour”, Geyer explains.

In other areas, clothing specifically for
female workers has been (as yet) neither
designed nor requested. “No-one has
requested it yet. Only the shoes are
different”, says BSR spokesperson Sabine
Thümler of the city’s “speedy street
sweepers”. “One of our female employees
is very small, but that’s not a problem.

She wears the same uniform as everyone
else – just in XS.” In workplaces where the
proportion of female workers in
“workshop” jobs is very low, like
Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport AG,
which currently employs about a dozen
women, the female workers tend to wear
smaller-sized men’s clothing. The number
of women in boiler suits is expected to
increase. “Young women are becoming
increasingly prepared to take up technical
professions and trades”, says Gudrun
Müller, Head of Fraport’s Servicecenter
Soziales (Social Affairs Service
Department). “We need and want more
women, so we’ve modified our images,
our approach to the public, and our job
descriptions.”

Clothing as a factor in image
and identity
In traditional trade professions, too,
women’s workwear is not yet very
widespread. This is presumed to be
because the number of workers in trade
professions is so small that standardised,
specialist workwear is relatively expensive
to procure. Individuals therefore choose
to wear their own clothing. The number
of women employed in trade professions,
furthermore, is still relatively low.

Nevertheless, an increasing number of
women are opting to take up horticulture
and landscaping, forestry, joinery and
carpentry, painting, tiling, and even
vehicle maintenance. Physically
demanding professions, like those in the
building and steel industries, however,
remain male preserves.

Market trends
Germany’s capital for example boasts a
particularly high number of women in
trade professions. In March 2011, the
Handwerkskammer Berlin [Berlin
Chamber of Crafts] reported that women
accounted for 27.7 percent of new
business startups, 30.1 percent of new
apprenticeship contracts, and 31.6 percent
of master craftsman examinations passed.

Even considering all the different areas of
employment in industry and the trades,
women’s workwear today still makes up
only a fraction of the total.

This picture will, no doubt, continue to
change – and with it, the need for
appropriate equipment and clothing for
workers. Already, half of all employees in
today’s German labour market are
women, a figure which has increased by
5.7 percent over the past 20 years.

According to an article on the labour
market published in the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung on 1st May 2011,
most women work part-time or in
minimum-wage jobs. According to the
Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
in Nuremberg, many women want more.

Half of all women in part-time
employment and two-thirds of those in
minimum-wage jobs would like to expand
their working hours. This corresponds
precisely to the findings of the German
Federal Employment Agency (BA), which,
according to its January 2011 10-point plan
to combat shortages in the specialised
labour force, also aims to integrate women
better into the workforce through full-time
employment. As the numerous exhibitors
at the A+A 2011 will impressively
demonstrate, this aim will not fail due to a
lack of appropriate protective and
professional clothing for women.

Information on the A+A 2011, as well as on
the exhibitors and their products, is available
online at: www.AplusA.de