Silicon Valley Tech Firms Launch Fashion Merchandise and Host Met Gala Tables

Palantir sold its entire initial run of 420 denim chore coats within hours of launching a new merchandise collection last week. The $239 jackets, available in blue or black and branded with the company logo, are manufactured in Montana and designed to evoke traditional workwear.

Eliano Younes, the head of strategic engagement at Palantir, told the New York Times the collection forms part of the company's commitment to re-industrializing America. "It's not political," he added. " The company, which provides data and spy technology, has drawn attention for its government contracts.

Its latest product launch coincides with a wider pattern of Silicon Valley firms turning to fashion and cultural events to reshape public perception.

Anthropic partnered with the newsletter Air Mail last year to operate pop-up events at newsstands in New York and London. Visitors could purchase “thinking” caps, coffee and other items as part of a branded experience. OpenAI operates an online store selling long-sleeved T-shirts styled after early internet design.

The aesthetic references a pre-corporate, more playful era of the web popular with younger consumers. At the Met Gala on Monday, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez attended after making a $10 million donation to the event. The fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute generated a record $42 million this year.

Meta, OpenAI and Snap each purchased tables costing at least $350,000. Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and senior executives from TikTok, Instagram, Slack and other platforms also attended. Zuckerberg has made a visible effort to develop a personal style in recent years, appearing in Bode shirts and attending the Prada show at Milan Fashion Week.

The shift marks a departure from the industry’s earlier reputation for deliberate unstylishness. The chore coat itself originated in France after the first world war as practical workwear for industrial laborers. Made from durable cotton twill or moleskin, the garment has since been adopted across fashion brands and worn by celebrities including Monty Don and Harry Styles.

The Guardian reported that tech firms appear to be seeking cultural capital to appear more acceptable within current trends. One style commentator noted that companies require such capital to be perceived as part of the zeitgeist. New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka described the phenomenon as “taste-washing,” suggesting an attempt to cloak technology perceived as anti-humanist with a surface layer of liberal humanism.

The article questioned whether personal taste can confer competitive advantage in an industry increasingly focused on automation. Five of the largest U.S. book publishers sued Meta on Tuesday, alleging the company used millions of their works without permission to train large language models.

OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft face similar copyright litigation.

“We might call what’s going on now ‘taste-washing,’ an attempt to give anti-humanist technologies a veneer of liberal humanism.”

The fashion pivot occurs even as the same companies maintain core business activities that have drawn public criticism, including contracts supporting government deportation efforts and international military operations. Industry observers note that past enthusiasm for social causes among tech firms proved short-lived once business incentives changed.

Whether the current focus on taste and refinement represents a lasting change or another transient trend remains unclear. Fashion has historically maintained a complex relationship with extreme wealth, where refinement is often enabled by substantial financial resources.

Bill Cunningham, the late street-style photographer known for wearing a simple blue chore coat, valued the garment for being inexpensive, washable and practical with large pockets. He discovered the style while observing street sweepers in Paris and appreciated its functional design and color.

The tech industry’s expansion into cultural and aesthetic domains continues a pattern of acquiring influence across sectors including media, transportation, housing and retail.