Two men sit across a table from each other. Between them are a chessboard and two cups of matcha. In the background, big band music plays.
The man playing the white pieces has a black Ralph Lauren quarter-zip, while the one playing the black pieces has a camel-colored, cable knit version, similarly adorned with the ubiquitous pony. White wins, to the chagrin of his opponent.
The video, labeled "How dudes start moving when they get a quarter zip," jump cuts to the pair considering the book "Thinking and Getting Rich."
The short, posted Nov. 19 on TikTok by Theo Wisseh, is a representative sample of a new trend in the "performative male" universe – and it comes with a zipper.
Some young adult men have taken to quarter-zip sweaters, resulting in a social media sensation as well as meet-ups and celebrations nationwide. The sweater has become a symbol of Gen-Z and late-millennial aspiration, with singer and rapper T-Pain posting a photo of himself to Instagram in the sweater style with the caption: "401k and a quarter zip."
