Fashioning The Tech Bro: The New Wave Of Workwear

Chris Cotonou asks whether the outlandish personal style of the Tech Bros is the new power dressing, or just sartorial incompetence?

Deep Dive: Tech Bro Style

In the past, when writing about the style of Wall Street workers, I would’ve had fun flicking through 90s Armani catalogues and Gordon Gekko film stills. But it’s 2025, and instead, I’m watching YouTube clips of Mark Zuckerberg explaining why he only wears the same grey T-shirts and hoodies daily. ‘I want to clear my life to make as few decisions as possible,’ the Meta founder says, deadpan.

These days, it’s the Tech Bros defining workwear. Trudging through Canary Wharf, their signatures become apparent: straight-leg jeans, basic tees and monotone jumpers. A gilet – the coder’s chestplate armour – and the mandatory smart watch. Simple. But in that casual simplicity is a sense of rebellion, a middle finger to the suited jocks these once-timid nerds festered in the shadows of. It’s been that way since Steve Jobs surprised audiences by arriving on stage in his trademark turtleneck, or when Zuckerberg wore hoodies to meetings with Wall Street financiers in 2012. This is the essence of Tech Bro style: sticking it to Gordon Gekko’s suspenders.

(c) NurPhoto SRL/Alamy Live News

But aspects of the Tech Bro uniform have now become so de rigueur in corporate circles (see: the gilet) and, like any subcultural uniform, it no longer has the renegade status it did. As the tech class gets more powerful, public and populist, its billionaire overlords, the Broligarchy, are refashioning themselves with a new kind of power dressing aimed at fitting in. The result? A group of mid-life Peter Pans with uncanny-valley faces, wearing what they think are ‘normal people’ clothes.

The new ‘masculine energy’ Zuck (Google that Joe Rogan episode) has forgone his all-grey wardrobe and transformed into the kind of chain-wearing, curly-haired man who doesn’t pay for a woman’s dinner. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey went from suits to nose rings and trucker caps seemingly overnight. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, now a Hollywood man, is doing his utmost to make us forget he once looked like George from Seinfeld, by chowing down spinach and wearing Secret Service aviators. Elon Musk – the richest man on earth, and by far the most desperate to be perceived as cool – is often snapped in a poorly fitted suit while engaging in political theatre. In fact, the entire line-up of suited Tech Bros at Trump’s inauguration didn’t fare well. Why is it so hard for exceedingly rich people to get a two-piece that doesn’t fit like a hand-me-down? How can you send a rocket to the moon but not realise that your trouser length is the focus of mirth?

(c) Image Press Agency/Alamy Live News

There are some things we can take from the Tech Bro. Quiet luxury, the kind seen in HBO’s Succession, is a facet of their more tasteful members – think the unproblematic Tim Cook or Google’s Sundar Pichai. Elevated basics from Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli are the aspirational play. Studio Nicholson, Stòffa and Zegna are alternatives, especially if you’re investing in a variation of Pichai’s bomber jackets, a smart cashmere jumper or loose-fitting trousers. These pieces signify importance and appreciation for the finer things. After all, few would have known Steve Jobs’s turtleneck was by Issey Miyake.

Jobs’s turtleneck was by Issey Miyake. Some of them are now film-star famous, and with that comes the same vanity, the same urge to trade rebellion for a chance to fit in (it could also be a PR move). The nerds have won. But like the Wall Street jocks they replaced, they’re now exactly what they set out to destroy – only in worse tailoring and with a passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu.