Best and worst dressed execs

A report in www.news.com.au says that when informed of the inclusion of Jetstar CEO Alan Joyce on our worst dressed list, Jetstar spokesperson Simon Westaway sprang to his boss’s defence, saying, “He prides himself on how he presents himself”, explaining Mr Joyce’s relaxed style was due to a no-tie policy in the corporate office. “We’re a roll-the-sleeves-up company that gets the job done.”  He did concede, however, his boss had recently started wearing ties. “We’re working on him,” he said.

Billionaire Gerry Harvey, one of the most successful businesspeople in the country, still turns up to public events with holes in his clothes, saying, “Yesterday I went to a function wearing an old red cashmere sweater and I was later told that all everyone was talking about was how many holes it had in it,” Then there was the unflattering fluoro green shirt he recently wore to a media conference, with Mr Harvey insisting,   “That was me on one of my good days!” But the retail king, whose wealth has been estimated at $1.5 billion by Forbes magazine, really couldn’t care less what people think about his fashion sense, unlike some other high-profile execs.

With the help of www.news.com.au’s fashion experts – Fashion Assassin designer Alex Zabotto-Bentley and fashion writer Lisa Bjorksten they have compiled a list of the five best dressed and five worst dressed businesspeople in Australia: –

Simply the best:

James Packer, Australia’s richest businessperson, is always dressed in a well-tailored power suit when getting down to business.   “He has stylistically come of age,” Mr Zabotto-Bentley enthused. “I see him as the sharp don of business. He looks incredible. He is like the leader of the brat packers.”  Ms Bjorksten felt Mr Packer dressed very conservatively but that it worked well, because “he looks like he means business and is in control”.

Frank Lowy, head of Westfield, “dresses with a mod grace to him”, according to Zabotto-Bentley, while Ms Bjorksten said he always looked immaculate.

Kerrie Mather Macquarie Airports CEO, scored highly for her attire, which was elegant, well-tailored and showed “she’s a serious businesswoman”, Ms Bjorksten said.  “Ally McBeal crossed with Hilary Clinton and a sprinkling of Nicole Kidman” was how Mr Zabotto-Bentley described her. “I love her. She always looks dynamite.”

Lachlan Murdoch made the cut for his casual yet smart business look. “Corporate with an edge,” Mr Zabotto-Bentley said. “He is like the bad boy of business.”  “He looks like he’s getting his hands dirty while still looking quite stylish at the same time,” Ms Bjorksten said.

Sol Trujillo, a surprising inclusion to the best dressed list was Telstra boss, but both experts agreed he always looked great. Ms Bjorksten particularly liked the way Mr Trujillo’s ensemble was coordinated with the cast he wore on his foot.

The worst is yet to come

Alan Joyce, Jetstar’s CEO got the thumbs down for his relaxed style, with Mr Zabotto-Bentley saying he looked like “a filing clerk waiting for the photocopier to be free”. Ms Bjorksten thought he needed a tailor to smarten up his suit.

Gail Kelly, St George CEO also found herself on the worst dressed list. “Oh my lord,” Mr Zabotto-Bentley said looking at a photo of her in a yellow polka dot suit. “Matching your clothing to your hair is okay if you’re a team mascot, but not a high profile business person.” But St George’s manager of corporate relations said Ms Kelly wouldn’t be put off by her inclusion on the worst list. “Gail always dresses very colourfully, it’s just part of her style,” Jeremy Griffith said.

James Strong, Woolworths chairman, should lose his trademark bowtie, according to Ms Bjorksten who thought it looked silly and “a bit try-hard”. But Mr Zabotto-Bentley disagreed, saying he liked the “Truman Capote-esque” quality of the hand-tied bowtie.”

Rick Allert, Coles chairman also caused some dissention. “Double breasted is not ever a particularly flattering shape, but he’s actually wearing it quite well,” Ms Bjorksten said.  But Mr Zabotto-Bentley though the Coles chief looked like “the door man at High and Mighty menswear in the 18th century. Is that a jacket or a coat?”

Gerry Harvey, drew agreement from both experts that he needed help in the wardrobe department, particularly in reference to that green shirt. “I think the green is just wrong, even if this is a Harvey Norman uniform he’s wearing,” Ms Bjorksten said. “It doesn’t suit anyone.”  “It’s cruel to put people in that colour.”  But is it Mr Harvey’s laidback approach to style that helps him relax his clients and customers and win them over?   Tailor Maurice Lubansky thinks so and as the 83-year-old CEO of Stafford Group, which makes Anthony Squires suits, has dressed every prime minister since Robert Menzies (apart from Paul Keating who preferred Italian threads).  Mr Lubansky believed the key to dressing well for work was about “dressing appropriately and dressing right for the occasion”.

“If we look at our prime minister, he dresses right when he’s doing his morning walk, he dresses right on the weekends and he dresses right when he’s in parliament.”  “I’d put him on our well-dressed list because he dresses appropriately,” Mr Lubansky said, adding that he thought Kevin Rudd and Peter Costello were also snappy dressers.

Recruitment boss Julia Ross, managing director of Ross Human Directions, agreed it was about dressing appropriately for your workplace and your personality.  “It’s not just about whether someone wears an expensive suit or a poorly fitted suit, it’s also looking at what style of person the individual is, what style of culture the company has and making sure those two things fit together,” she said.

“It’s important they not only wear clothes that are suitable for the occasion, but also clothing they feel comfortable and confident in, and that reflect who they are and what their values are.

Report by The Mole