Show Me The Typical Bay Area Sweater: An Observation Of The Values Associated With Bay Area Tech Culture
Patagonia Better Sweater
A New Role
With only a week remaining before starting my new tech job a hefty brown box, the seams ready to burst, arrived at my doorstep. As I opened the box and dug under the long strips of brown packing paper, I uncovered parts of a computer for my work from home set up. While I continued to dig deeper and gather more pieces - a laptop, two monitors, HDMI cables and various other parts - my fingers wrapped around a soft, bendable mesh strap buried under the packing paper.
The more I pulled the strap toward me, the more I felt like I was in a Skittles commercial. Instead of an overflowing amount of small sweet treats bursting out of the box, the stoic facade of a 2D llama greets accompanied by the sounds of recycled materials draped in a wave of mismatched dark tones. This wasn’t just any Cotopaxi Batac backpack you would find in your local big box outdoor store, but it was an exclusive backpack, branded with my company’s logo on it!
Now, it’s not unusual for tech companies to send a box of company gear to their new hires just before their start date as a ‘welcome to the team’ type of gesture. In the previous tech company I worked at, the moment I walked into the reception room for new hires, right there on my seat was a brand new Patagonia Refugio 28 liter backpack as a welcome gift - with a company logo plastered on the front.
This Patagonia backpack isn’t just for show, instead, it lets everyone who walks behind me know that I work in one of the most accomplished companies in the west coast. My company has the money to hire baristas to make freshly brewed coffee in the morning; feed me catered lunch each day of the week, load the kitchen with unlimited brand name snacks and locally made beer, provide me all the latest hardware from Apple but most importantly, convey that my company can easily spend on brand name gear to hand out for the cost of free ninety-nine.
Patagonia Refugio 28L, SaaS Edition
It’s pretty nice to live in this bay area bubble where something simple as the brand of your company gear signals just how privileged being in tech can be.
The Transition
Now that my time in tech has passed, the best part is I get to keep any company goodies that were given to me during my time served. As nice as it is to have two different backpacks - one from Cotopaxi and one from Patagonia - they never saw the light of day outside of the office and instead are tucked away in my garage. It is not that there's anything physically wrong with these backpacks, but similar to how Leonardo DiCaprio dumps his girlfriends after they hit the age of 25, when the time came to part ways with the company I worked with, I figured toting around their logo does not accurately depict the direction of where my life is heading.
So instead of playing into the typical Bay Area lifestyle, I decided it was best to reinvest my time into other meaningful areas of my life. From trying to fit in with the bros in the office who talk (and only talk) about tech, attending work conventions to listen to industry experts flaunt their opinions on the latest trends, being pitched by founders to ‘get ahead’ through ‘mentorship opportunities’ (a.k.a MLM schemes), it was best for me to put those qualities behind me as I pursue more personal creative endeavors. Although it initially felt good to be part of a community that was so highly popularized since my youth, there was this lingering feeling that something did not feel right. Rather than flocking with a fraternity of tech bros that don the same Dockers khakis and Patagonia Better Sweaters, only touching grass when they’re on their 15 minute walk around the parking lot, I’d rather take a hike elsewhere and explore different cultures outside the confines of tech.
June Lake, Fall Season
Fast forward to my current role working at a Bay Area born and raised retail store, I find myself back on the sales floor directly engaging with customers face to face as opposed to cold calling executives for their time. It was a chilly, late afternoon, the sun almost set, leaving traces of pink skies. By this time of the year we have plenty of winter clothing to sell - with both sides of the main aisle lined up with the latest tech employee attire. As I walk down the main aisle I approach this portly built man, who looks like a software engineer from a tech startup - similar to a background character like those in the TV series “Silicon Valley” - rummaging with absolute focus through a fixture stocked with Patagonia outerwear.
“How may I help you today sir?” I asked, trying to build an idea of what he needs.
“I’m looking for a jacket, but not just any jacket,” says the customer as he furrows his brow struggling to keep his train of thought.
While the Tech Bro tries to find his words, lost in the sea of his own mind, he waves his hands around like he’s playing charades until he finally spits out -
“You know, a jacket I can use for going in and out of the office. Show me the typical bay area sweater!” exclaimed the man.
Oddly enough, drawing upon my experience from working alongside many tech bros and gals over the years, I fully understood what this man was looking for.
“Take a walk with me over here. I have just the sweater you’re looking for!” As I direct him to the Patagonia Better Sweaters lurking nearby.
The Typical Bay Area Sweater
Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this short prologue as much as I enjoyed writing about how ‘showy’ things can be in tech culture at times. In today’s post, we will discuss how we broadly define “value” in reference to tech culture and the wider bay area. Then we will explore on a broader scale how the values imposed on us by tech companies have led us to diminish our own sense of value while buying into the vain and superficial qualities typically found in the Bay Area.
I wanted to create something around this topic for a few reasons: I worked in the tech sector for a few companies and experienced how serious (yet silly) a sweater or backpack with a company logo emblazoned on it can affect people in different ways. Additionally, I did a small photoshoot, posing my friends in sweaters other than the typical “Bay Area” sweater that I would love to share here.
To make things simple, I will mainly focus on Patagonia throughout this blog post. While Patagonia is an internationally recognized brand that is loved by many, it is a brand that carries a different meaning within the tech space - portraying the vanity worn by the people who work in this industry.
What Does “Value” Mean?
For clarity’s sake, I will briefly touch on the subject of ‘value’ within this setting. I think of ‘value’ as how much something is worth - which can be subjective depending on the person. To build a better sense of the term, I’d like to consider the following sub characteristics of intrinsic and extrinsic value. Intrinsic value is how much an object is worth to an individual plus the perceived value of others. Extrinsic value, on the other hand, is value solely based on something else. Let’s take Mr. Tech Bro who was hunting for the Bay Area sweater as an example. Intrinsically speaking, a sweater in itself is designed to keep someone warm. In this case, Sir Silicon Valley Software Engineer Extraordinar wants the garment to exude the feeling of, “Yeah, I work in tech”, which is singularly extrinsic value derived from a shared culture of status norms within the tech sector.
Patagonia Atom Sling Bag, Biotech Edition
The Tech Lifestyle
The typical bay area sweater does not mean it is only referencing the Better Sweater by Patagonia. Instead, the bay area sweater represents the vanity that is born from a culture perpetuated within Bay Area tech companies, each one boasting (regardless of product) of their superiority within their space. Each tech company I worked for used the same template: they fed their shareholder focused company values to me and dressed me up in their corporate branded apparel in an effort to make me feel elevated above similar companies. Even though I did not exclusively ‘buy in’ to all of the values abruptly placed upon me, I eventually found myself acting the same way as the guys to the left and the right of my electronic stand up desk as I subconsciously became a product of my environment.
Patagonia Refugio 28L Backpack, SaaS Edition
Although different types of compensation and incentives can affect people differently, these qualities are not the root cause as to why we change our perspective value on the things we consume. As our lives gradually become accustomed to the ways these tech companies attract and retain us, we also become accustomed to the harsh realities within tech culture - particularly mass layoffs and the stress of an uncertain future. Even though layoffs within tech happen on a large scale, and too frequently, tech companies will do whatever they can to maintain the status quo. Factors such as not hitting revenue numbers, over-hiring and saving money (to name a few) have led to layoffs following the eclipse of Covid-19 and we can see shades of these pain points occurring as recently as this year. Back in April 2020, the U.S. unemployment rate reached its peak at nearly 15% countrywide (Parkinson). Whereas since February 2023, the tech industry itself reached peak turnover at 13.2%, far and away the highest of any major sector operating post-pandemic (Gleichauf).
With statistics like these, it is commonplace to see peers providing support to displaced employees through social media channels, like LinkedIn following the wake of a mass layoff. All the while our corporate leaders maintain that our company will continue to do great for the future while simultaneously embellishing all the accomplishments we made 30 years ago, reinforcing the vision that we are, will be and always have been great. Like an angler fish alluring its prey, tech companies dangle opportunities for higher pay, the flexibility to work from home and the prestige of being part of Silicon Valley - a company logo acting like a shiny badge on a LinkedIn profile. No one wants to lose something they have worked hard for; with drastic turnover in the sector, crucial qualities such as self-esteem and individual goals become muddled and lost to time. Nonetheless, tech companies will continue to sell to us the idea of ‘a better future’ with a smile - guising their true intentions under the pretext of ‘weathering the storm as a team’.
The bottom line is, whether people leave their company voluntarily or not, a business will continue to operate as usual. From being fed the same lunch as our peers, to getting dolled up with the same ‘team swag’ and remaining monitored from the moment we clock in, our individual values begin to erode. Like living in a Barbie world where life in plastic is fantastic, these tech companies sell to us a lifestyle romanticized by the idea that being part of tech is the place to be, that is until we find ourselves thrown onto the chopping block after entering an unexpected all hands Zoom meeting. Simply put, our search for identity and security is undermined by the vanity of daily life in the tech hive.
Feeding Into The Culture
Patagonia Refugio 28L Backpack, Finance Edition
The final party that feeds into tech culture are lifestyle companies like Patagonia. Since its inception, Patagonia’s mission is to protect the earth through their responsible initiatives while making quality gear that helps people enjoy the outdoors in style - not necessarily intended for the software engineer keeping himself warm while working remotely from home in the dark depths of his mother’s basement. Although Patagonia has addressed how third party company logos can devalue their products and has abided by a stricter set of guidelines on who they partner with, they are not completely eliminating their involvement with Bay Area tech culture (Patagonia). By continuing to allow corporate logos on their products through different methods, Patagonia subtly deceives us by reasserting its ‘earth first’ mentality while simultaneously heightening its perceived value within the Bay Area. For all the good that Patagonia does, there is no denying that it is still a business.
From a business standpoint, Patagonia benefits from new and repeat clients to keep their business running. However, since more Bay Area finance bros and tech bros quickly ditched preppy vests for more “Patagucci” in their wardrobe, the brand took on a radically different perception from what it originally stands for (Allyn). The combination of the brand’s rising popularity among the bros throughout the years, along with its willingness to do business with tech companies has caused damage to the longevity of the brand across various markets. In a sense, Patagonia has suffered from its own success - its popularity backfiring on itself leaving it unable to disassociate from tech culture the best it can.
It is not that tech culture solely intended for Patagonia to be considered the typical Bay Area sweater, but through mass distribution and circulation of its gear (along with gear from other lifestyle brands) within these tech circles, this widely recognized brand eventually became to be regarded as a special status symbol within the Bay Area. Through Patagonia’s own actions it has, and continues to enable, a feedback loop where they contribute to the values and lifestyle normally found within tech culture.
Patagonia Better Sweater, Finance Edition
Lasting Impressions
While I worked in retail over the holiday season, there were plenty of shoppers gearing up for colder weather. Occasionally, the typical tech bro is found cruising around the store while wearing (you guessed it) their tried and true Patagonia sweater with their company logo on the garment. Although I thought I left all the bros back at the office, I find it funny how I cannot escape them as they come back asking where to buy a sweater they already have. Thankfully, by working in tech, I became more aware of the frivolous values and the grim realities of a lifestyle particular to the Bay Area tech culture. The prestige of working at a tech company in the Silicon Valley, the opportunities for high earning potential, the lingering threat of mass layoffs, the stress of keeping a job & housing security are some of the values that we see daily to the point where they become normalized. A Nano Puff Jacket and a Better Sweater by Patagonia, are simply pieces of outerwear that have adopted a meaning beyond its intended use - reflecting on the values of the culture it became so popular in without even trying. As much as we feel good while wearing Patagonia jackets and sweaters, these outdoor brands who negotiate deals with tech companies can feel good when they can line their fuzzy pockets with continued business.
I’m glad the Bay Area is home to many cultures coming together to create this diverse community. Nonetheless, tech culture will continue to remain a prominent subculture as companies, people and lifestyle brands feed back into its longevity. While tech companies will do whatever they can to increase their brand recognition, from lining the freeways with cheesy tech jokes posted on giant billboards and sending their legion of recruiters to scour the internet for the next big catch, ultimately they cannot make value judgments on our behalf. Simply put, values brought upon us from an outside entity or culture need to first align with our personal values if there is to be a meaningful relationship between any two parties. In the case that a company’s values begin to outweigh our own, it causes us to lose our sense of self, perpetuating the feedback loop towards vanity and away from self-identity. Even though corporate tactics can influence our decision making process at the end of the day, whatever cultural influences may come our way, it is always important to reflect on our own l principles, in the pursuit of achieving personal happiness and wellbeing.
Although this blog serves as a glimpse into Bay Area culture, I hope you walk away with a better sense of how extrinsic influences impact our personal values, and hopefully, a positive reminder to blaze your own trails!
