Argent and Citizens of Humanity have teamed up for their first collaborative collection called the Good Work Capsule. The partnership is rooted in shared values and a collective vision for dressing with purpose.

With the Good Work Capsule, women are encouraged to dress with intention and advocate for better practices in fashion and beyond.

“The Good Work capsule is not only a reflection of Argent’s values, but the women we design for. Every piece embodies our commitment to supporting their ambition and growth, and our collective future. We’re incredibly proud to continue our partnership with Citizens of Humanity as leaders in sustainable and regenerative fashion, and we’re honored to create products our customers can wear with confidence — both in and beyond the office — for years to come,” said Sali Christeson, founder and chief executive officer of Argent.

Designed for women whose wardrobes need to perform across professional and personal moments, the collection pairs Argent’s signature tailoring with Citizen’s of Humanity’s relaxed polish. Every piece is manufactured with low-impact, responsibly sourced materials. These include breathable linen, regenerative cotton and bio-indigo dyed denim.

“Argent is not only exceptional in their category but also in their commitment to championing women in business, politics and beyond. With the Good Work Capsule, we have the opportunity to bring our regenerative cotton and bio-tech innovations into a new space — one that aligns with our shared mission to empower women through thoughtful, elevated design. We’re proud to partner with Argent to design a collection that embodies both style and purpose,” said Amy Williams, CEO of Citizens of Humanity Group.

Among the looks are the Chelsea Blazer and matching Weekend Trouser in soft blue linen, a Button Dress in black and blue, tailored shorts, a waistcoat, ribbed tanks and essential tees. The capsule also features denim, a Citizens’ hallmark, which appears in easy-wearing silhouettes like the Ayla Baggy and the sculptural Farrow Denim Dress in a rinse denim. Rounding out the collection are staples like the Abra Work Jacket and the Harris Shirt.

The full collection will be available in Argent’s stores and Citizens of Humanity’s Aspen store, as well as online at argentwork.com, citizensofhumanity.com and select retailers such as Net-a-porter, Mytheresa, Selfridges, Goop, Holt Renfrew and Neiman Marcus, starting Wednesday.

Discussing the collaboration, Christeson said she and Williams connected on the heels of the pandemic, having been introduced through a mutual founder friend. “It was born from a desire for us to introduce denim into our assortment, which is something I’ve wanted to do since launch in 2016,” she said. “We really hit it off. I expressed to her that we wanted to partner for creating some work appropriate options which we did with their brand AGolde [part of Citizens of Humanity Group], and we had so much success with that. From there, Amy had the idea to do something larger with Citizens, which I was obviously very excited about,” Christeson said.

Williams said they worked together for a couple of years, and she admired the work that Christeson was doing “in bringing the modern, chic, confident, wardrobing option to women.”

“Being very inspired by the women who are part of the Argent community and the leadership role she’s taken in everything from politics to entrepreneurism. I called her one day and I said, ‘I think there’s a world in which, under the values of this idea of Good Work, we can create thoughtful, sustainable and really chic wardrobe alternatives for people,’” Williams said.

Williams feels this collaboration can be ongoing, and not just one season.

Interestingly, Christeson said she found out from their wholesale partners that people were reaching for Argent and Citizens together when they were shopping. “There’s a need for more casual options. There’s been a relaxing of dress codes. Women want a workwear authority, and go-to destination that offers them work-appropriate denim,” she said.

Asked whether she’s finding more professional women wearing denim to the office, Christeson replied, “Absolutely, and we found that women are confused by that. We have women come in and say, ‘We now have casual Friday,’ and in some dress codes, it will be very undefined. What we want to do is step in and be a solution there that doesn’t require her to think…and gives her confidence at the end of the day.”

There’s been a modernization of work apparel, she said. Christeson said she was working in tech, and women were looking for some sort of direction in how to dress for those more casual environments. “We’re really seeking to fill a void for work across all spectrums from the more casual environment all the way to the more formal environment. This allows us to do even more than we can do as Argent on its own,” she said.

Argent has three freestanding stores — two in New York and one in Washington, D.C., and there are plans to open more stores this year, Christeson said. The company wholesales its collection to Neiman Marcus, Goop and specialty stores. Argent has carried Agolde in its stores for the past few years.

In assessing the market, Williams said it’s become very expensive to get dressed, “and there’s a void in products that are incredibly well made with great integrity and intention in quality factories that are affordable for all women to participate in and wear,” she said. The capsule was manufactured in New York and Portugal.

Explaining the design process between the two companies, Williams said, “It was super collaborative. You can close your eyes and imagine ‘who doesn’t feel pulled together when they wear a blazer and jeans?’” she said. “That was the starting point. What are the most important silhouettes from a bottoms perspective and how do we pair that up with a blazer and pieces around it? Part of what excited us and the challenge was to make sure all of the materials were responsibly sourced. From a denim perspective, everything is using our regenerative cotton — U.S. grown, which is something we’ve been working on for five years,” Williams said. In addition, Citizens launched a eco-indigo dye into the market with Net-a-porter in January, and it’s been rolled out to all their key accounts. All the indigo denim [in the capsule] incorporated that indigo dye.

There are 20 styles in the Good Work capsule that will be delivered at the same time, with prices ranging from $108 to $595. They are currently incubating a second collection for the fall season in October.

The two teams met virtually and selected “best of” products including those that were inspired by each other’s collection. The creative directors of Citizens and Argent then met over Zoom and worked together. They sketched and went through the entire design process, with sketches and color palette and sent samples back and forth for fittings, edits and comments and final merchandising with a group of them.

Sizes range from 0 to 14, and Citizen’s numerical sizes match them.

Asked what they anticipate will be bestsellers, Christeson said, “All of them. It’s really hard to say.”

“This capsule has been so much fun for me and Amy and our team. It’s rare to find a partnership that just works so seamlessly. We’ve been really intentional with brand-building, and we’ve not done anything like this. Citizens is unique. We just see so much alignment and overlap in terms of our values, in terms of our intentionality, in terms of what we’re trying to accomplish. I think we’ve been able to improve our ability to deliver on our mission of removing barriers for women by pursuing this partnership,” Christeson said.

According to Williams, “It’s a very curated, intentional collection of pieces. It’s the ‘perfect’ blazer, it is the ‘perfect’ wide-leg pant, it is the ‘perfect’ denim shirt. You can buy all the pieces and wear them interchangeably and forever. That’s what makes it really chic and stylish and gives women confidence,” Williams said.

Williams said they don’t generally do collaborations but work with their retail partners. “We don’t like to do things that are very gratuitous. We like to do things that are grounded in something that’s authentically in line with our values. We’re excited about this for all those reasons,” Williams said.

For its part, Citizens of Humanity offers a full sportswear collection, but it’s not as dressed up as what Argent offers. Citizens does a full range of products from woven shirting to outerwear, knits and sweaters. They’ve expanded over the last five to seven years.

Christeson spoke about the functional elements in its pieces. For example, it puts a band in the sleeves of its blouses and blazers so when you push the sleeves up, it holds it in place. They introduced that into the denim top they are making for the collaboration.

The denim jeans will be primarily wider leg, Williams said. “For this collection and the sensibility, wide leg is the way to go,” she said. There will be both a five-pocket and a flash-pocket trouser in that silhouette. “It’s stylish and chic for any height of person or any size, it’s a very flattering silhouette for all customers and all body types,” she said. She said the jeans retail from $258 to $268.