All the looks from ASOS and Mixmag’s wild workwear rave

Colour Factory, that gem of East London clubbing, is no stranger to a bit of party peacock-ery. And this soirée was no exception to the rule, despite the particularly baltic conditions of a Thursday evening in November. Indeed, the promise of free booze and heavy rave cuts drew a crowd of shuddering party-goers that stretched all the way back to the Hackney Wick overground. Bemused passersby all double-took, scanning a throng of stylish pleasure-seekers up and down, curious as to what lay beyond the club’s neon signage.

It was time to clock into ​“Night Shift”, a one-off event thrown by ASOS and Mixmag to see in their high-functioning workwear offering. Guaranteeing the evening’s dancefloor ecstasy was headliner sim0ne, a Scottish polymath known for her cheeky, high-octane club edits and penchant for hard, dance bangers. Joining her behind the decks was a coterie of fellow London nightlife scenesters, all kitted out in an array of ASOS’s cleanest, graft-ready gear.

After stuffing all manner of puffy outerwear into lockers, attendees dove straight into action, turning the building into a sea of wrought worker staples, from baggy button-downs and box-cut bomber jackets and double-kneed cargos. Leo Mandella, known to many as menswear savant Gully Guy Leo, led the night’s sonic charge in a louche, green jacket and ASOS Design vest combo. As he handed the reins over to PXSSY PALACE​’s Nadine Noor and Ryan Lovell, he couldn’t resist one last reload – a break-heavy edit of Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam – flashing a smile as the crowd lurched into a frenzy.

Out back, the venue’s sprawling smoking area was lit with the heaters’ roast-red hue, meanwhile wide-eyed strangers powered up on burger sliders and pints. There, we spotted producer DJ Cou Cou Chloe holding court with the night’s closing selector, Housewife 9, the two going at it in a mid-rave natter, clad in stripped-back finery. It took just one spellbinding blend of The Black Eyed Peas’ My Humps and Da Hool’s Eurodance classic, Meet Her At The Love Parade, however, to disrupt the calm, sending attendees back into the fold, many deciding to mount the stage behind the decks and throw it down on camera.

Cosying up on the balconies that flanked the function, onlookers like it-girls Bell Madu and Aly Meghani gazed into a crowd of loving embraces and frolicking ravers. Amidst flailing gun fingers and the occasional clawed heart, sim0ne broke away from some heavy spinning to spud a fan over the decks – a sign that her selection of hardcore classics were going down a treat. At this point, some dancers had ditched their clothes entirely (holding onto a pair of carpenter jeans at most), while others still delighting in the night’s code of refined industrial dress unbuttoned their oversized trucker jackets and loose, corded shirts in search of a breeze.

Housewife 9 taking up the mantle, suave as ever in a fitted Carhartt WIP tee and chain, signalled the night was soon drawing to a close. Soldiering on with a storm of bass-heavy bangers, friends newfound and old reluctantly prepared to slur their goodbyes, no one quite ready to call it quits. ​“It’s probably for the best,” one group leader reasoned to their dejected troops. ​“After all, we do have work tomorrow.”