{"id":1900642,"date":"2026-04-24T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1900642"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:36:00","slug":"techno-fascist-fashion-why-silicon-valley-is-moving-into-menswear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1900642","title":{"rendered":"Techno-fascist fashion: Why Silicon Valley is moving into menswear"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/358-0-1836-1224\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443955.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/fashion\/article\/70141\/1\/new-corporate-chic-top-down-from-techno-fascists-palantir-chore-coat\" data-article-id=\"70141\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.87\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Palantir chore coat\" class=\"img\" height=\"1366\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443955.jpg\" width=\"2552\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Via X\/@eliano<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-04-24T15:36:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"24 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"24\">24,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - fashion\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\">Fashion<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Techno-fascist fashion: Why Silicon Valley is moving <span class=\"nowrap\">into menswear<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>Palantir\u2019s new \u2018chore coat\u2019 merch is just another way for the spy tech firm to worm its way inside our brains \u2013 but why is the tech industry now so obsessed <span class=\"nowrap\">with \u2018taste\u2019?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-24T15:36:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"24 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"24\">24,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-24T15:36:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"24 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"24\">24,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/ThomWaite\">Thom Waite<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Alex Karp, the \u201csupervillain\u201d CEO of the spy tech firm Palantir, isn\u2019t known for his sense of style. Scan the internet for photos of him at defence tech conferences and you\u2019ll find him in an unremarkable blue suit; out on the street, you might see him in a logo-covered gilet, the unofficial uniform of Silicon Valley investors. On the outside, he\u2019s just another boring tech bro \u2013 there\u2019s not much to suggest he\u2019s a key figure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/jul\/03\/global-firms-profiting-israel-genocide-gaza-united-nations-rapporteur\">enabling genocide<\/a> in Gaza and turning the US into a right-wing technocracy, or a man who jokes about spraying his critics with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/64a2345e-3961-4d5d-ae04-82d933fa5a2c?syn-25a6b1a6=1\">fentanyl-laced urine<\/a>\u201d. <\/span><span>But that\u2019s probably not by mistake. Palantir understands the importance of aesthetics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Case in point: at the end of the month, the company will drop the latest in its line of branded merch, a lightweight chore coat in blue and black. (Bad luck, every straight man at Broadway Market \u2013 you\u2019re a technofascist now.) As Eliano Younes, who oversees \u201cvibes\u201d at the US software company, writes in an announcement on X, the jacket is \u201cgreat for activities\u201d and made in America (although, as the viral menswear critic Derek Guy pointed out, it\u2019s actually modelled after traditional French workwear, so perhaps not as patriotic as it might seem).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The merch drop does, however, reflect a recent obsession with \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69942\/1\/how-to-cultivate-your-own-taste-books-film-fashion-taste-tiktok-culture\"><span>taste<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d in the US tech industry. Beginning somewhere around Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/63247\/1\/on-mark-zuckerberg-the-tech-bro-glow-up-silicon-valley\"><span>swaggy glow-up<\/span><\/a><span> in 2024, this preoccupation has been stated more openly in recent months, with big names at companies including OpenAI and a16z declaring things like: \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/gdb\/status\/2023481258639286401\"><span>taste is a new core skill.<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d As Kyle Chayka recently wrote in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/infinite-scroll\/why-tech-bros-are-now-obsessed-with-taste\"><em><span>New Yorker<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, this makes sense. \u201c<\/span><span>AI companies need to associate themselves with taste precisely because their tools are not very palatable, much less cool, to anyone outside of Silicon Valley,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe might call what\u2019s going on now \u2018taste-washing,\u2019 an attempt to give anti-humanist technologies a veneer of liberal humanism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content has-tweet\" data-embed-type=\"media-twitter\" data-script-depends=\"twitter-widgets\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">IMO, a company claiming to champion the US should&#39;ve done an US chore coat. Historically, US chore coats were made from denim or duck canvas, and had four pockets instead of three (e.g., Sears, Lee, Carhartt). Yours takes after brands like Vetra and Le Labourer, which are French. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1evC46lvR0\">pic.twitter.com\/1evC46lvR0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; derek guy (@dieworkwear) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dieworkwear\/status\/2046983563325980914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cTaste-washing\u201d has gone way beyond quoting Rick Rubin and obsessing over typography, though, when a company like Palantir \u2013 which reportedly creates \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-humanrights.org\/es\/%C3%BAltimas-noticias\/palantir-allegedly-enables-israels-ai-targeting-amid-israels-war-in-gaza-raising-concerns-over-war-crimes\/\">kill lists<\/a>\u201d for the Israeli military, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2025\/sep\/22\/ice-palantir-data\">mines<\/a> US citizens\u2019 data for ICE \u2013\u00a0encourages people to wear its logo like they\u2019re repping their favourite sports team. This is a company that, just days ago, issued a 22-point manifesto that\u2019s been described by critics as \u201ctechnofascist\u201d and the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2026\/apr\/21\/palantir-manifesto-uk-contract-fears-mps\">ramblings of a supervillain<\/a>\u201d. Titled <em>The Technological Republic<\/em>, and based on a book of the same name, this manifesto calls for the US to accelerate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/60416\/1\/kill-moloch-demon-driving-humanity-brink-extinction-ai-oppenheimer-nuclear-bomb\">AI arms race<\/a> and dismisses the cultures it doesn\u2019t like as \u201cdysfunctional and regressive\u201d. Overall, it advocates folding technologies like Palantir\u2019s into government to exert a new form of \u201chard power\u201d with a distinctly authoritarian, white supremacist edge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For Palantir, this mission is going well. Besides supporting the genocidal actions of the US and Israel, the company is increasingly embedded in the UK government, via deals worth some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2026\/apr\/23\/thousands-call-on-uk-ministers-to-cut-ties-with-us-tech-giant-palantir\"><span>$600 million<\/span><\/a><span> with the NHS, military, and local councils. Despite widespread backlash, it\u2019s also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/apr\/22\/met-police-talks-palantir-ai-tech-criminal-investigations-automate-intelligence\"><span>poised<\/span><\/a><span> to provide spy tech to the Metropolitan Police. Needless to say, it doesn\u2019t <\/span><em><span>need <\/span><\/em><span>to flog merch just to stay afloat. So what are we actually looking at here?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After the Palantir chore coat hit the timeline, a post by fashion commentator and critic Chloe Iris Kennedy resurfaced. Referencing a December 2025 streetwear drop by Lockheed Martin (yes, another US defence firm), she wrote: \u201cin the early 2000s, camo print was strategically placed in the fashion zeitgeist as a means of aligning the western world with the war on terror.\u201d But today, she adds, the aesthetic comes from the top down: \u201cNowadays, war machines can simply release merchandise, label it gorpcore, and the public will willingly fund their acts of terror. This is the consequence of decades of denying the politics of fashion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content has-tweet\" data-embed-type=\"media-twitter\" data-script-depends=\"twitter-widgets\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">in the early 2000s camo print was strategically placed in the fashion zeitgeist as a means of aligning the western world with the war on terror. nowadays war machines can simply release merchandise, label it gorpcore, and the public will willingly fund their acts of terror. this\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T6ZFEKsLA0\">https:\/\/t.co\/T6ZFEKsLA0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; chloe iris (@chloeikennedy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chloeikennedy\/status\/2000043623967039496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>But again, Palantir doesn\u2019t exactly <em>need <\/em>public funding. What it does need is cultural capital, or at least a way to whitewash its influence over some of the worst atrocities of the 21st century so far. And why not look to the playbook of past movements, like the Nazi party or Italian Futurists, for inspiration? All the way back in 1935, the critical theorist Walter Benjamin identified aesthetics as a key ingredient of these fascists\u2019 rise to power, as well as a way to maintain the illusion that people can \u201cexpress themselves\u201d while their rights are stripped away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>OK, so Palantir is selling a jacket, alongside its previously-released t-shirts, \u2018Silicon Valley dropout\u2019 crew necks, and patches. Is it really that deep? Well, let\u2019s take a look at how far its cultural influence has spread so far. On social media, you can find <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HellenicVibes\/status\/1938370379741073611\"><span>starter packs<\/span><\/a><span> for guys who \u201csupport the Thiel thing\u201d (unhinged venture capitalist Peter Thiel is a co-founder of Palantir, naturally) alongside <\/span><em><span>The Devil Wears Prada <\/span><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXeq0iaDZjd\/\"><span>chore coat memes<\/span><\/a><span>, and fake Palantir ads starring the likes of Sydney Sweeney, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, and Margaret Qualley. (Who is making these? Is it safe to say they\u2019re on the Palantir payroll?) Relatedly, we\u2019ve seen a proliferation of weapons across the cultural landscape, from magazine covers, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWcEQDZDaY0\/\">cult fashion collections<\/a>, to one of the year\u2019s most talked-about films (iykyk).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Of course the tone of these cultural references is often ironic, but for Palantir they arguably serve a similar purpose to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/68257\/1\/how-kitsch-became-aesthetic-right-wing-america-dhs-alligator-alcatraz-meme\"><span>kitsch art<\/span><\/a><span> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69360\/1\/slop-enshittification-2025-internet-implode-shumon-basar-gunseli-yalcinkaya\"><span>far-right slop<\/span><\/a><span> that\u2019s being churned out by the US government. The more we\u2019re exposed to the brand and its military associations, the easier it gets to normalise its (very abnormal) activities in our minds. It doesn\u2019t even really matter if you like Palantir\u2019s merch or not, whether you care if it\u2019s all-American or inspired by French workwear \u2013 the point is cultural saturation. Just as Palantir infiltrates national infrastructure with its software, each meme and merch drop sees it sneak even deeper into our brains.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If camo was meant to taste-wash the War on Terror on the down-low, Palantir\u2019s imperialist end goals seem much more out in the open. See point six of the company manifesto: \u201cNational service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.\u201d At least we know what Younes meant when he said the chore coat was \u201cgreat for activities\u201d \u2013 when they hit the frontlines in World War III, every American will be dressed in 100 per cent cotton \u2018relaxed fit\u2019 workwear with a French twist.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! 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<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70109\/1\/what-went-down-at-oakley-s-field-gear-line-collection-launch\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\">Oakley <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Oakley\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-638-1999-1330\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443523.JPG\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">What Went Down at Oakley\u2019s Field Gear Line Collection launch <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70114\/1\/when-exactly-coachella-aesthetic-soulless-sheinchella-influencers\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Coachella 2015\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/110-172-1975-1314\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443606.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">When exactly did the Coachella aesthetic become so soulless?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70051\/1\/what-went-down-at-nike-toma-in-atlanta\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\"> Nike <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nike Toma in Atlanta\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-385-2720-1809\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443043.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">What went down at Nike Toma in Atlanta<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/gallery\/36952\/0\/coachella-2026-best-dressed-weekend-two\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Coachella 2026: Best dressed weekend two\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-204-2000-1330\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443588.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">The same, but different: All the celeb style from Coachella weekend two<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70106\/1\/moncler-have-a-puffy-summer-jamie-dornan-moss-freud-loewe-burberry\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moncler Have a Puffy Summer\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-257-2399-1596\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443491.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Moncler is coming for summer with its line of little puffs<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70050\/1\/nikes-wild-card-team-kits-are-already-in-action\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\">\n<p class=\"optional-paragraph\"> Nike <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nike Friendlies\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-573-2999-1995\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443032.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Nike\u2019s \u2018wild card\u2019 Team Kits are already in action<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Alex Karp, the \u201csupervillain\u201d CEO of the spy tech firm Palantir, isn\u2019t known for his sense of style. Scan the internet for photos of him at defence tech conferences and you\u2019ll find him in an unremarkable blue suit; out on the street, you might see him in a logo-covered gilet, the unofficial uniform of Silicon Valley investors. On the outside, he\u2019s just another boring tech bro \u2013 there\u2019s not much to suggest he\u2019s a key figure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/jul\/03\/global-firms-profiting-israel-genocide-gaza-united-nations-rapporteur\">enabling genocide<\/a> in Gaza and turning the US into a right-wing technocracy, or a man who jokes about spraying his critics with \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/64a2345e-3961-4d5d-ae04-82d933fa5a2c?syn-25a6b1a6=1\">fentanyl-laced urine<\/a>\u201d. <\/span><span>But that\u2019s probably not by mistake. Palantir understands the importance of aesthetics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Case in point: at the end of the month, the company will drop the latest in its line of branded merch, a lightweight chore coat in blue and black. (Bad luck, every straight man at Broadway Market \u2013 you\u2019re a technofascist now.) As Eliano Younes, who oversees \u201cvibes\u201d at the US software company, writes in an announcement on X, the jacket is \u201cgreat for activities\u201d and made in America (although, as the viral menswear critic Derek Guy pointed out, it\u2019s actually modelled after traditional French workwear, so perhaps not as patriotic as it might seem).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The merch drop does, however, reflect a recent obsession with \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69942\/1\/how-to-cultivate-your-own-taste-books-film-fashion-taste-tiktok-culture\"><span>taste<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d in the US tech industry. Beginning somewhere around Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/63247\/1\/on-mark-zuckerberg-the-tech-bro-glow-up-silicon-valley\"><span>swaggy glow-up<\/span><\/a><span> in 2024, this preoccupation has been stated more openly in recent months, with big names at companies including OpenAI and a16z declaring things like: \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/gdb\/status\/2023481258639286401\"><span>taste is a new core skill.<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d As Kyle Chayka recently wrote in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/infinite-scroll\/why-tech-bros-are-now-obsessed-with-taste\"><em><span>New Yorker<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, this makes sense. \u201c<\/span><span>AI companies need to associate themselves with taste precisely because their tools are not very palatable, much less cool, to anyone outside of Silicon Valley,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe might call what\u2019s going on now \u2018taste-washing,\u2019 an attempt to give anti-humanist technologies a veneer of liberal humanism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content has-tweet\" data-embed-type=\"media-twitter\" data-script-depends=\"twitter-widgets\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">IMO, a company claiming to champion the US should&#39;ve done an US chore coat. Historically, US chore coats were made from denim or duck canvas, and had four pockets instead of three (e.g., Sears, Lee, Carhartt). Yours takes after brands like Vetra and Le Labourer, which are French. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1evC46lvR0\">pic.twitter.com\/1evC46lvR0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; derek guy (@dieworkwear) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dieworkwear\/status\/2046983563325980914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cTaste-washing\u201d has gone way beyond quoting Rick Rubin and obsessing over typography, though, when a company like Palantir \u2013 which reportedly creates \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-humanrights.org\/es\/%C3%BAltimas-noticias\/palantir-allegedly-enables-israels-ai-targeting-amid-israels-war-in-gaza-raising-concerns-over-war-crimes\/\">kill lists<\/a>\u201d for the Israeli military, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2025\/sep\/22\/ice-palantir-data\">mines<\/a> US citizens\u2019 data for ICE \u2013\u00a0encourages people to wear its logo like they\u2019re repping their favourite sports team. This is a company that, just days ago, issued a 22-point manifesto that\u2019s been described by critics as \u201ctechnofascist\u201d and the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2026\/apr\/21\/palantir-manifesto-uk-contract-fears-mps\">ramblings of a supervillain<\/a>\u201d. Titled <em>The Technological Republic<\/em>, and based on a book of the same name, this manifesto calls for the US to accelerate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/60416\/1\/kill-moloch-demon-driving-humanity-brink-extinction-ai-oppenheimer-nuclear-bomb\">AI arms race<\/a> and dismisses the cultures it doesn\u2019t like as \u201cdysfunctional and regressive\u201d. Overall, it advocates folding technologies like Palantir\u2019s into government to exert a new form of \u201chard power\u201d with a distinctly authoritarian, white supremacist edge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For Palantir, this mission is going well. Besides supporting the genocidal actions of the US and Israel, the company is increasingly embedded in the UK government, via deals worth some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2026\/apr\/23\/thousands-call-on-uk-ministers-to-cut-ties-with-us-tech-giant-palantir\"><span>$600 million<\/span><\/a><span> with the NHS, military, and local councils. Despite widespread backlash, it\u2019s also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2026\/apr\/22\/met-police-talks-palantir-ai-tech-criminal-investigations-automate-intelligence\"><span>poised<\/span><\/a><span> to provide spy tech to the Metropolitan Police. Needless to say, it doesn\u2019t <\/span><em><span>need <\/span><\/em><span>to flog merch just to stay afloat. So what are we actually looking at here?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After the Palantir chore coat hit the timeline, a post by fashion commentator and critic Chloe Iris Kennedy resurfaced. Referencing a December 2025 streetwear drop by Lockheed Martin (yes, another US defence firm), she wrote: \u201cin the early 2000s, camo print was strategically placed in the fashion zeitgeist as a means of aligning the western world with the war on terror.\u201d But today, she adds, the aesthetic comes from the top down: \u201cNowadays, war machines can simply release merchandise, label it gorpcore, and the public will willingly fund their acts of terror. This is the consequence of decades of denying the politics of fashion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content has-tweet\" data-embed-type=\"media-twitter\" data-script-depends=\"twitter-widgets\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">in the early 2000s camo print was strategically placed in the fashion zeitgeist as a means of aligning the western world with the war on terror. nowadays war machines can simply release merchandise, label it gorpcore, and the public will willingly fund their acts of terror. this\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T6ZFEKsLA0\">https:\/\/t.co\/T6ZFEKsLA0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; chloe iris (@chloeikennedy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chloeikennedy\/status\/2000043623967039496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>But again, Palantir doesn\u2019t exactly <em>need <\/em>public funding. What it does need is cultural capital, or at least a way to whitewash its influence over some of the worst atrocities of the 21st century so far. And why not look to the playbook of past movements, like the Nazi party or Italian Futurists, for inspiration? All the way back in 1935, the critical theorist Walter Benjamin identified aesthetics as a key ingredient of these fascists\u2019 rise to power, as well as a way to maintain the illusion that people can \u201cexpress themselves\u201d while their rights are stripped away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>OK, so Palantir is selling a jacket, alongside its previously-released t-shirts, \u2018Silicon Valley dropout\u2019 crew necks, and patches. Is it really that deep? Well, let\u2019s take a look at how far its cultural influence has spread so far. On social media, you can find <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HellenicVibes\/status\/1938370379741073611\"><span>starter packs<\/span><\/a><span> for guys who \u201csupport the Thiel thing\u201d (unhinged venture capitalist Peter Thiel is a co-founder of Palantir, naturally) alongside <\/span><em><span>The Devil Wears Prada <\/span><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXeq0iaDZjd\/\"><span>chore coat memes<\/span><\/a><span>, and fake Palantir ads starring the likes of Sydney Sweeney, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, and Margaret Qualley. (Who is making these? Is it safe to say they\u2019re on the Palantir payroll?) Relatedly, we\u2019ve seen a proliferation of weapons across the cultural landscape, from magazine covers, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWcEQDZDaY0\/\">cult fashion collections<\/a>, to one of the year\u2019s most talked-about films (iykyk).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Of course the tone of these cultural references is often ironic, but for Palantir they arguably serve a similar purpose to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/68257\/1\/how-kitsch-became-aesthetic-right-wing-america-dhs-alligator-alcatraz-meme\"><span>kitsch art<\/span><\/a><span> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69360\/1\/slop-enshittification-2025-internet-implode-shumon-basar-gunseli-yalcinkaya\"><span>far-right slop<\/span><\/a><span> that\u2019s being churned out by the US government. The more we\u2019re exposed to the brand and its military associations, the easier it gets to normalise its (very abnormal) activities in our minds. It doesn\u2019t even really matter if you like Palantir\u2019s merch or not, whether you care if it\u2019s all-American or inspired by French workwear \u2013 the point is cultural saturation. Just as Palantir infiltrates national infrastructure with its software, each meme and merch drop sees it sneak even deeper into our brains.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If camo was meant to taste-wash the War on Terror on the down-low, Palantir\u2019s imperialist end goals seem much more out in the open. See point six of the company manifesto: \u201cNational service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.\u201d At least we know what Younes meant when he said the chore coat was \u201cgreat for activities\u201d \u2013 when they hit the frontlines in World War III, every American will be dressed in 100 per cent cotton \u2018relaxed fit\u2019 workwear with a French twist.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/70141\/1\/new-corporate-chic-top-down-from-techno-fascists-palantir-chore-coat&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/358-0-1836-1224\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/3\/1443955.jpg&#8221;] Via X\/@eliano April\u00a0 24,\u00a0 2026 Fashion \/ Opinion Fashion \/ Opinion Techno-fascist fashion: Why Silicon Valley is moving into menswear Palantir\u2019s new \u2018chore coat\u2019 merch is just another way for the spy tech firm to worm its way inside our brains \u2013 but why is the tech industry now so obsessed with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1900642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1900642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1900642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1900642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1900642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1900642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}