It’s obvious that men and women have vastly different body shapes. But for a long time it’s not something that was ever addressed in the hospitality industry, when it came to uniforms. There was once a time where men and women wore the same uniform. But rather than continue to schlep about the kitchen in oversized (and rather unflattering) pants, chef Maxine Thompson took the conundrum into her own hands. The result was PolkaPants, a line of female-friendly hospitality attire. Now seen on the likes of Lune’s Kate Reid and the UK’s Gizzi Erskine, PolkaPants are fast becoming an essential for women in the hospitality industry.

But PolkaPants was a simple concept, explains Maxine. “The launch of PolkaPants was inspired by the lack of being able to find any comfortable, stylish and practical trousers to wear in the kitchen,” she says. “Pre-Polka, we women were wearing either baggy, oversized unisex trousers available from uniform stores (or provided by the place of work), leggings or jeans. The first step was to find out whether this was a common problem, or if it was just me being a diva!” Maxine laughs.

The genius idea has plenty of research behind it, Maxine explains. “I conducted a lot of market research, in the form of a questionnaire that I emailed out to culinary schools and restaurants around the world. The questionnaire asked what the individual currently wore in the kitchen, what they liked or disliked about it, and what their dream pair of uniform trousers would look like,” she adds.

It was with all the relevant research collected that Maxine’s dream began to take shape. “From this I collated all the data to come up with the ‘perfect pair’ of workwear trousers,” she says. “I turned this idea into a physical sample which I then sent out to a select group of female chefs to user test, and made adjustments based on their feedback.”

It was the utility scheme clothing of the 1940s that inspired the final design that landed in 2016 – simple, practical and hardwearing. PolkaPants are a high-waisted, slim fit, in order to flatter most female figures. They are crafted from a blend of 97 per cent cotton and 3 per cent stretch, in order to make movement as easy as possible, and they are also available in two different leg lengths (cropped and long).

Since its launch, PolkaPants has been based in East London and available exclusively online, though the brand hosts regular pop-up events around the world. While demand continues to increase, Maxine has no plans just yet to expand the range away from the pants. “At the moment we are focused on perfecting our current product, and really pushing the customisation side of the brand. We want to make it easy for people to build their own Polkas with colours, prints, labels and leg lengths,” she says.

But that doesn’t mean fans won’t catch a glimpse of new PolkaPants items set to land on shelves down the track. “We have a few brand collaborations planned for the next 12 months which will see a mini collection of items, from jeans, aprons to jackets, but in terms of expanding our base range – we’re just sticking to trousers,” Maxine says.