Koio Shoutout - Wall Street Journal
“‘Finance Bro’ Outfits Desperately Need an Update. We Have Fixes.”
Check out our client Koio featured in The Wall Street Journal last week and read about how they're helping upgrade the "Finance Bro" wardrobe with their elevated fashion choices.
#finance #accounting #koio #menswear #shoes
‘Finance Bro’ Outfits Desperately Need an Update. We Have Fixes.
Story by Hamish Anderson
DECADES AGO, if you asked Americans to envisage a Wall Street commuter, they might have pictured a man in a dapper three-piece suit, reading the paper on the train from Connecticut. Visit many corporate offices today, though, and you’d be forgiven for thinking the male execs had hiked in from a yoga studio. How else to explain the rash of drab fleece vests, Lululemon stretch pants and orthopedic-looking sneakers? In this much-memed “finance bro” uniform, businessmen are dressing as if challenging their spouses to remain faithful.
Turner Allen, a New York personal stylist, said many money men are over-invested in clothes in “hybrid tech fabrics” that straddle exercise and office attire. “[They] think it’s a style hack, but in reality these look like glorified gym clothes.” Plus, in these conformist pieces, “You just look like a corporate drone.” Joseph Rosenfeld, another New York personal stylist who helps corporate sorts sharpen up, says this clichéd outfit often reads as careless and sloppy.
Good news: It’s pretty easy to elevate the look via tweaks to fabric, fit and color. In this finance-bro makeover manual, pros offer upgrades for each textbook item…
Shoes
The rub: Certain ubiquitous corporate sneakers (hello, On Cloud kicks) suggest you’re running laps, not numbers. And hybrid models—with a dress-shoe upper and sneaker sole—look clunky, says Allen.
The fix: Lace up an “ultra minimal” leather sneaker, said Allen, who likes Koio’s off-white options. Kenger puts finance guys in loafers or “nicer chukka boots” from Tod’s or Morjas. Chukkas are more relaxed than dress shoes, he says—and 007-approved. “You see these a lot in recent James Bond movies.”
