Would you buy branded clothing from your favourite tech firm?

Would you purchase branded apparel from your favorite tech company?

Nvidia’s clothing ranges are selling out fast, snapped up by admirers of the tech powerhouse.

For Natalie Fratto, wearing her dark green jumper from US microchip giant Nvidia feels like putting on the uniform of a beloved sports team.

Printed on the front of the $178 (£132) woollen item is a cartoon-like image of the company’s chief executive, Jensen Huang.

Fratto does not work for Nvidia. She is, instead, a fan of the company.

“I have a New Zealand All Blacks rugby jersey, and I think of my Jensen sweater in kind of the same way,” says Fratto, who is based in New York and runs a tech start-up.

She says it stands for a team and an ethos “that I am impressed by and root for”, and she wears the jumper proudly in videos she shares on social media.

Nvidia is certainly among the top tier of global tech firms. Under Huang’s leadership, it has ridden the AI boom to become one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Although it sells tens of millions of chips each year, its clothing is much more exclusive. The ranges, which also include t-shirts, hoodies and hats, are usually available only at pop-up stalls during its conferences, and for very short periods or “drops” through an online store, where they sell out rapidly.

And while it may seem unusual for a tech company to sell clothing, others are doing the same — and also emphasizing exclusivity.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, generally offers its branded fashion only to employees, though it occasionally goes on public sale for a few days through its website.

Meanwhile, Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot, opened a temporary pop-up coffee shop in Manhattan’s West Village last year. For one week, it handed out free baseball hats embroidered with the word “thinking” on the front.

Professor Hazel Clark, who teaches fashion at Parsons School of Design in New York, says tech firms have borrowed from fashion by restricting availability. “It’s a very common strategy for brands to use. It elevates the desirability,” she says.

But why are these companies selling clothing at all? It is not as though they need the extra income.

Nvidia, OpenAI and Anthropic all declined to comment, but it appears to be about brand promotion and reputation management.

Consider US software company Palantir Technologies, which has drawn criticism because of its work for the military and police, both in the US and abroad. Since introducing its own clothing line last year, Palantir now describes itself as a “lifestyle brand”.

Eliano Younes, Palantir’s head of strategic engagement, says: “A lifestyle brand isn’t defined by what you sell, it’s defined by what you stand for and whether people want to affiliate with it. I believe that the store’s success and the enthusiasm from our community proves this.”

Younes adds that “investors, customers, employees, and everyday people” in more than 60 countries have bought Palantir’s merchandise, which includes a cotton jacket.

US defence firm Anduril’s t-shirts are not subtle

One US buyer of Palantir clothing, who did not want to be named, says he was drawn in by the controversy and the “amount of people talking about it”. He adds: “It’s the purest form of anti-fashion…and that is what makes it so interesting and unique.”

Critics argue that companies such as Palantir are using fashionable merchandise “to get their name into a more positive conversations”, as Clark puts it.

Younes says: “Our clothing, like our software, is not political. It’s designed for all people who support Palantir and what it stands for.”

Some other companies are being more openly political with their clothing, including US defence firm Anduril, which makes military drones. It sells a hoodie marked with the words “Rebuild the Arsenal”, reflecting its goal of seeing greater US defence spending and manufacturing.

Jonathan Sargent, a legal assistant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has bought clothing from both Palantir and Anduril. “A lot of apparel today, whether it’s Nike or other large brands, can feel disconnected from anything tangible,” he says.

“But Palantir and Anduril are companies that people associate with building things that have a visible impact, whether that’s defence, AI, infrastructure, or decision-making systems,” he adds.

Back at Nvidia, the popularity of founder Huang may be helping drive sales of its clothing. He has been known to draw crowds of devoted fans, competing for autographs or selfies with the 63-year-old, who is recognized for his signature leather jacket.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called Huang “Taylor Swift, but for tech”.

Prof Gianpaolo Vignali of the Manchester Fashion Institute says: “People look at them [such big tech bosses] as role models. They want to aspire to them.”

For Greg Epstein, author of Tech Agnostic, who describes the tech industry as a cult or new global religion, wearing tech merchandise is “a way of symbolising that you’re one of the prophetic elite”. This can especially appeal to Silicon Valley insiders who are often “searching for a sense of identity, a sense of purpose, a sense of community”.

Epstein, who is the humanist chaplain at both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, adds: “When tech bros put themselves on sweaters, it’s more than just a cutesy phenomenon, it’s an attempt to sell a cult whose goal is to radically alter the human condition.”

Whether or not you decide to buy your next shirt or hat from a tech or defence company, Vignali argues that all clothing choices carry meaning. “The subtle colour of a tie or hair bobble… all of these are signals that allow the wearer to symbolically share their cultural and ideological positions,” he says.

While tech and defence fashion appears to attract both devoted fans and harsh critics, not everyone sees it as serious.

“It’s a unique moment in our collective zeitgeist for sure,” says Fratto, but she also thinks Nvidia’s decision to put Jensen Huang on the front of its official merchandise is “kind of funny”.