Banana Republic Thinks Your Typical 'Startup Guy' Should Dress Like This The retailer will launch a line of head-to-toe outfits "best suited for different professions," including 'The Corporate Guy,' 'The Creative Guy,' and yes, 'The Startup Guy.'
By Laura Entis
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
You can make the argument the tech-startup scene is many things: innovative, disruptive, homogenous, misguided, brilliant. But fashionable? That's not an adjective that's used very much, probably because tech superstars like Mark Zuckerberg have eschewed all that is trendy and/or expensive for hoodies, T-shirts and jeans. Uncool and intentionally untailored is a statement, of sorts. Banana Republic is hoping these BIZ Experiencesial men will have a change of heart.
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Starting next month, the retailer will launch an online boutique "where our stylists will style head-to-toe outfits best suited for different professions," Banana Republic spokesperson Liz Nunan explained in an email. ('Professions' will include "The Corporate Guy," "The Creative Guy," and of course, "The Startup Guy.") "We want our men's shoppers to look at us as a resource for easy styling so they can get back to work (all while looking great)," Nunan wrote.
This, of course, is a marketing push from a retailer. It's not explicitly clear what a Startup Guy does, although it seems a safe bet he could be interchangeable with the "Silicon Valley Guy" (as many have done already).
No word as of yet on whether or not Banana Republic will launch a line of clothing for "The Startup Girl," but if Silicon Valley tech workers are truly Banana Republic's target demographic, there may not be enough buyers for such a rollout to make sense.
Related: Is This the Summer of the Short Suit? Thankfully, Probably Not.
