The world changed on 9 December 2012 when a style icon appeared in an unlikely place: a branch of IKEA in North York, Toronto, Canada. His name was Darwin, he was about 60cm tall, and he was a Japanese Macaque wearing a shearling coat. He was a monkey, wearing a coat, in IKEA. Darwin went viral, then he was taken from his owner (it turns out that you can’t illegally own exotic monkeys and put them in sick outerwear and take them on trips to buy Vesken shelving units in the great nation of Canada), and now he’s living the life of a coat-less monkey in a monkey sanctuary. That, you’d think, would be that.
Except it seems like Darwin’s legacy lives on. Mark Zuckerberg, who likes to go by Zuck now, was recently spotted in a suspiciously familiar, very Darwinian shearling coat during a trip to McDonald’s in Japan – all part of what the New York Times is calling his glow-up. The brown suede sheepskin number is by Overland, a rugged, Yellowstone-y brand from New Mexico and retails for around $1,000. Zuck’s subtle style evolution has also included pieces by Alexander McQueen and a naughty little chain over the t-shirt look sported during a recent Facebook Live. Are our tech overlords… becoming a bit stylish?
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Having engaged in various tech arms races over the years, encompassing everything from AI, space flight and getting you to spend loads of time scrolling through Reels with your phone propped in between your chest and your chin on a Sunday night while the existential dread rolls in (Why don’t I just read a book? I really need to just read a book. Just one more video of an Australian making a wagyu steak sandwich and then I’ll do it), the world’s tech CEOs are now seeing who can dominate the world of dressing like a really rich guy, but with a bit of swag.
Jeff Bezos, arms pumped and head as smooth and shiny as an egg covered in polished marble, has leaned into his flamboyant villain arch by adopting a uniform of Ulysse Nardin watches, Garrett sunglasses, cowboy boots and silk shirts. After years spent building Amazon in slouchy Oxfords and chinos, and later dull blue suits and open-neck white shirts, Bezos has realised the great truism of being worth more than nation states: You can look like a version of Pitbull who knows how to use a computer, if you have the money for it. Sergey Brin, meanwhile, was recently seen at a Google event in a patchwork Elder Statesman jacket, while Twitter founder Jack Dorsey blazed a trail in drop-crotch Rick Owens and Raf Simons. Another outlier is Jensen Huang, CEO of Taiwanese chip behemoths Nvidia, who likes to deliver key-note speeches that essentially boil down to, “Guys, we’re making bank!” in Tom Ford lizard biker jackets.
For decades, Steve Jobs aside, tech CEOs seemed to believe that slobby dressing added to their charm. Bedroom-dwelling savants who only had the bandwidth to build internet empires. With the morality of tech under a constant microscope, that seems to be changing. Tycoons are enjoying their riches, trying to put on a more presentable public face, or just taking inspiration from illegal monkeys shutting down Canadian IKEAs with their incomparable style and lust for life.
This one's for you, Darwin.
