The Office Standout

When everyone else is running around in plain gray suits, you can set yourself apart just by wearing the new breed of tweed.

Suit, $650, by J.Crew Ludlow + shirt, $245, by Z Zegna / Tie, $150, by Alexander Olch / Shoes, $398, by To Boot New York / Pocket square by Brooks Brothers / Watch by Montblanc / Briefcase by Louis Vuitton

If This Shoot Looks Like a Movie Set…

What if Michael Bay decided to make a musical? That happened recently, or something like it, when Hong Kong director Johnnie To, whose films include Fulltime Killer and Drug War, made a romping, toe-tapping, song-and-dance musical, Office, about two go-getter assistants trying to climb the corporate ladder. Standing in their way is the 2008 financial crisis, as well as a domineering CEO played by Sylvia Chang. The office intrigue develops on a manically minimalist set where corporate gray scale is broken into geometric patterns with lines so clean they might as well be spreadsheets. To pay tribute to the office of Office, GQ took over the landmarked glass-and-marble Manufacturers Trust Company Building at 510 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, now home to the North Face flagship. Photographer Nathaniel Goldberg then juxtaposed corporate banality—all those gray suits and white desks—against stylized design elements that scream “soundstage.” The effect is a tension between the quotidian to which we're chained and our human need to break free. The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun might be the action hero on these pages, but the message is clear: No matter where we work, or dream, we can be heroes.

Suit, $2,245, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci / Shirt, $385, by Burberry / Tie, $235, by Dolce & Gabbana / Pocket square by Paul Stuart

Suit, $1,798, by John Varvatos / Shirt, $125, by Michael Kors / Tie, $235, by Dolce & Gabbana / Pocket square by Peter Millar / Her shirt and skirt, Alexander Wang / Heels by Prada Suit (made-to-measure), $1,200, by Todd Snyder / Shirt, $45, by Van Heusen / Tie, $19, and pocket square, The Tie Bar / Shoes, $398, To Boot New York / Her top and skirt, Chanel / Heels by Roger Vivier / Earrings and necklace, Mikimoto / Location throughout: The North Face Flagship Store on 5th Ave.

About These Clothes

As you can see in these pages, today's tweed suits are designed less for tending an Irish sheep farm and more for gliding through the halls of power. With a lighter look and feel (no more roasting!), once-fusty donegals and herringbones have transformed into businesswear, no thicker than flannel (but twice as textured). Their flecks and patterns can contrast an everyday solid shirt or add a salt-and-pepper effect to your plaids. Bonus: With something as classic as tweed, your suit becomes an investment piece. It's the suit for this winter, sure, but it's also the suit for every winter.

Suit, $4,600, by Isaia / Shirt, $168, by John Varvatos Star USA / Tie, $125, by Thomas Mason / Pocket square The Tie Bar / Briefcase by Louis Vuitton / Her shirt and skirt Jil Sander / Bracelets Tiffany & Co.

Steven Yeun’s Guide to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse (at the Office)