Full disclosure: I am easily amused by things that amuse almost no one else. The good news is: David is wrenching, Mercedes is driving, and Jason is drawing, so there are very few people to stop me from writing a post that I’ve needed to write for a while. And that’s a post about Power Jeans.
“What are Power Jeans?” you ask, unaware that you’ve already fallen into my trap. This is not the official name for these, and I’d accept “execudenim” or “C-Suite Dungarees” or whatever. I just call them Power Jeans.
It’s when an executive–in our case, from a car company, usually–is paired with someone from a hip, new startup business, and they have to wear jeans for the announcement photoshoot. And my favorite Power Jeans wearer is former Credit Suisse banker and GM executive Dan Ammann.
So, above we’ve got Ammann (far right, below) with Cruise co-founder Kyle Vogt (center) and COO Dan Kan, presumably from when GM bought Cruise and Ammann joined the board (he was GM President at the time). This would all end with Vogt calling GM a bunch of idiots, and GM’s new President telling Vogt to screw-off.
But not before some more jeans photos:
Here’s another one. Also with Ammann!
Ammann, again, in the power jeans and blazer look. Also, brown shoes. The difference here is that the two Lyft founders don’t have to even pretend to wear a jacket, because they’re too cool, man. Side note: How many mobility companies has GM invested in over the years? Is it all of them?
This isn’t to imply that Ammann doesn’t want to wear jeans. He grew up on a farm in New Zealand, so he seems fairly comfortable in them, but it does seem to be the automatic choice for when someone from a traditional OEM meets with a “disruptor.” Here’s VW’s Oliver Blume, left, with RJ Scaringe from Rivian, right. Scaringe always has jeans on.
Here’s some more Scaringe power jeans:
That man knows how to hold a shovel. The guy on the right definitely did not get the memo and looks ridiculous in slacks. I’m sorry. It had to be said.
Blume seems to like the look, which might explain why this is one of 12 photos that show up when you search the VW press site for his name:
They’re a little skinny, but not much skinnier than the ones I normally wear. Apparently, this is going out of fashion, so I’m open to the first executive walking around in Power JNCOs.
The one rule of Power Jeans, though, is that they can be black or blue or even tan, but they can never be white for … obvious reasons.
Lead photo: GM
I mean.. What else are you supposed to wear? It’s not a bad look overall, certainly better than a suit for a lot of reasons.
Reminds me of a lot of my comms professors and the younger profs in poli sci: put a blazer over it, it’s professional!
Reminds me of ‘sports jacket’ – hey look I’m sporty, I’m not a stuffy corporate suit!
Reminds me of Shelby with his power overalls
John DeLorean would have been the king of power jeans if he was an exec today.
I’ve accepted my attire of “rapidly aging mid 30s former young hot shot exec who also is a dad and truly doesn’t care”
Dark Blue Jeans, On Running shoes, Dark Solid no logo designer t shirt during the summer/heavyweight sweatshirt in the winter, New York Mets or Company hat
If you have an issue, please don’t bother telling me because unless it’s a gala or something I’m not bothering to change my look.
I’ve accepted my attire of “rapidly aging mid 30s former young hot shot exec who also is a dad and truly doesn’t care”
Dark Blue Jeans, On Running shoes, Dark Solid no logo designer t shirt during the summer/heavyweight sweatshirt in the winter, New York Mets or Company hat
If you have an issue, please don’t bother telling me because unless it’s a gala or something I’m not bothering to change my look UNLESS JNCO IS ON THE TABLE. Because hell yeah I’m all in on JNCOs and skater shoes.
I for one am excited to see them transition into these Power JNCO’s that you speak of Jason.
But they might have to frost their tips to get the entire look.
My favorite is when Top Exec comes down for some “Kickoff” event and puts the mandatory Group T-Shirt on over his dress shirt.
I Grew up living in jeans, even Denim shirts. I have 2 pairs, but never wear them anymore. I wear Kuhl Hiking and rock climbing pants, and they are Office friendly and look great everywhere.
That guy second from the left has the big phone rectangle protruding front and center in his pants. Surely that’s got to be some modern day photog faux-pas.
A wedding I was in, the photog made us take off any smart watches and put our phones in the dressing room to avoid rectangles and future tech anachronisms in the photos
It’s the “I’m too busy not to BUSINESS here” look.
For a vary long time, I felt that my German colleagues, vendors, and clients dress was odd.
They’d near all, always, have decent dark blue jeans (bar one guy who’d wear some red fitted jeans, that wear likely a detriment to having children), an informal collared shirt (usually a golf shirt) or plain white T-shirt, and a nice pair of leather shoes. And, yes, sometimes a blazer as their jacket.
It was as if they were all informally dressed but still look like they spent good money on it.
It didn’t matter if it was the exec or the engineer I interacted with, it was nearly the same.
To them, this was normal office attire.
Levi’s these days are nowhere as good as they were when I was a kid. I outgrew them, before I wore them out. And I bought them myself, because my parents were too cheap to. Paper route money.
We’re busting balls in the jeans and not the idiotic blue sport jackets that every cool exec has on his LinkedIn page? It’s the Members Only jacket of the asshole class!
Toyota has a new “executive ranch” being built in Texas. That’s taking the power jeans to a sillier level in a way.
Why are we dunking on Scaringe? It would be stupid for the CEO of a company which builds SUVs and Trucks to show up in a suit from Prada, Tom Browne or even Brooks Brothers…
They all look a hell of a lot better than the Ford execs on NY Press Day a number of years ago when they were revealing the updated Lincoln MKS and MKT – using the word “bespoke” more than once (which indicated to me they had no idea what the meaning of that word is) while wearing off-the-rack Jos Banks suits which hadn’t even had the pants hemmed to the correct length.
Except for the fat guy w/ the shovel. He needs to get some clothes that fit.
You miss some of the nuances — especially what sort of jeans. In France the CEOs have to wear 1083 jeans — at €120 or so a pop but made from the fabric up in France.
Levis have never recovered from the first Trump trade war, and to wear them in a CEO company photo is to send a message you are about to be sacked…
Levi’s red tag as the new Star Trek red shirt
Jeez, those JNCO jeans are hideous! I don’t remember those being a thing, but then again, I’m mostly detached from fashion trends.
My name is Mr. Denim. But please, call me jean.
I just met a girl named Blue Jean…
Is “Blue” um spelled wrong?
How do you feel about the guy with the brand new hard hat, new work shirt, new pressed jeans, and new work boots in the Grainger Commercials saying we make it happen?
Everyone sees when you walk in with a new hard hat.
You could literally walk around with your fly down and no one would notice.
If you wear white jeans, you may as well just walk around naked.
I thought white jeans were only for women that were/are confidently a full day or two past their monthly visitor!
And here I thought I was being modest.
Two words: Speed Suit.
It really says to the world “Look out! I know what I’m wearing for the rest of my life!”
Nice onesie, dick!
I mean depends on what the alternatives are here. Are we advocating for flared pants for our own enjoyment, or do we want them to dress so that it reflects their personalities?
IMO Scaringe is not only consistent but also pulling it off so what can the man do? I also think Jim Farley is pulling it off, to a tee: blazer, jeans, brown shoes – but it’s his build and demeanor that makes it authentic.
Sartorially speaking your point is solid as it’s all soo vanilla while trying to hide it, but then again these dudes are not paid for their aesthetic tastes.
I just googled Jim Farley because I couldn’t picture what he looked like. How did I only just now discover that he is Chris Farley’s cousin?
An opportunity for Matt to use some legit confusing “pictured above” verbiage.