Palantir has quietly become tech’s hottest streetwear brand

Palantir Technologies, the software company best known for its secretive government contracts, has developed an unlikely side hustle — apparel for those who want to wear their support of America, the military and technology on their sleeve.

In 2024, Palantir started selling merch subtly emblazoned with the company’s chevron logo. The hats, tennis whites, T-shirts and chore coats have drawn a cult following, not just from retail investors enthused about the stock (which has skyrocketed this week), but from people who view wearing Palantir gear as a subtle signal of support for American technology, national security and innovation.

“When I see the Palantir chevron, it’s like seeing the American flag — it’s patriotism,” said Brett Krieger, a 28-year-old Tampa based accountant who has purchased the company’s bucket hats and sweatshirts. “It’s like hanging a flag on their front porch.”

Jesse Arm, a 30-year-old who works in Washington, DC, at a think tank, most recently sprung for the Palantir tennis collection.

“I genuinely want to wear clothing that signals something I’m proud of — and that is American tech prowess, national security, crushing enemies of the West,” he said.

He added, “Literally all they do is save lives. Why wouldn’t I want to rock their logo next time I’m on the tennis court?”

Unlike more obvious political or patriotic apparel, Palantir’s logo wear is lowkey — an “if you know, you know” marker for people who understand what the company represents — and doesn’t bear the company’s name in writing.

“Only a couple people recognize it in public; it’s a conversation starter,” Krieger said. “They make it exclusive … a community of people around the world being united through the company and created a big family.”

Since going public in 2020, Palantir has built a large and unusually passionate retail investor base — shareholders are drawn not only to the technology but to the company’s outspoken leadership.

CEO Alex Karp and CTO Shyam Sankar regularly take public positions on national security, AI, industrial policy and America’s role in the world that most tech executives prefer to avoid. For many fans, that willingness to speak plainly is as much a part of the appeal as the software.

And, evidently, it’s worth paying for. The merchandise isn’t cheap: The Lightweight Chore Coat comes in at $239, the Tennis Mens Performance Polo clocks in at $89 and the White OG baseball cap is $65.

“I overpaid for it,” Arm acknowledged. “I wouldn’t pay for a designer shirt, but I would pay a premium for a Palantir.”

For him and others, it’s a way to but in to a company whose main products are built for governments and institutions, not individual consumers.

“Most people will never be hands-on-keyboard touching Palantir,” Eliano Younes, the man behind the Palantir merchandise, told me. “The only tangible thing they might ever touch is this merchandise.”

Younes, whose official title is Head of Strategic Engagement, has helped turn the chore coats and bucket hats into something more than clothing.

“I think of us as a lifestyle brand,” he said.

The merch is released like streetwear in limited edition drops and typically comes with stickers and even a note from a Palantir executive. It’s all made in America.

“The packaging, the garments themselves, the cards, the stickers — everything that goes into it, the experience — I want it to be differentiated,” Younes said.

While he demurred when asked about sales numbers, he will say they’re on the rise.

“The same quantity that would take like a week or two to sell out are now selling out in like an hour or less,” he noted. When the store released hats last year, “we sold over 1,000 and sold out in the first six, seven hours.”

He added, “This year, as of right now, I’ve already exceeded last year’s six-month total and then some. And I’m on pace … to increase sales by 100%.”

Later this month, the company is unveiling boxing gloves as part of an America 250 collection with Barrick Boxing, a veteran-owned Texas company. They are also launching 500 commemorative Zippo lighters.

Younes expects them all to sell well.

Fans like Arm are eager for an alternative to attacking the left’s usual bêtes noires — data centers, billionaires, cops.

“It feels like right now the thing that is exciting to so many people in American politics is to attach themselves to something transgressive,” Arm said. “I understand that impulse, but for me I don’t want to performatively hate things.”