How the Fleece Vest Went From Banker Bro Basic to Stylish Layer

Despite is ubiquity in financial districts worldwide—or perhaps because of it—the fleece vest has long been relegated to punching-bag status in sartorial circles. While the atomized nature of menswear in 2025 is permissive of nearly every possible aesthetic, the one thing you don’t want to be is an office drone picking up his Sweetgreen order in the dreaded Midtown Uniform.

And yet, there’s good reason for the fleece vest’s present saturation: it’s comfortable to wear in fluctuating climates and heating conditions, its pockets provide ample storage space and it neatly fills the sport jacket-shaped hole left over by relaxed corporate dress codes. 

For all those reasons, Zachary Jonas was unwilling to hang up his own fleece vest, despite its present associations with finance-bro culture. “I kind of took it personally,” he tells Robb Report. “I love wearing my vest, it’s comfortable and practical. I don’t want to be seen or classified as that.”

So, Jonas, who’d been working for tech firms in the Bay Area, founded Ritter in 2019 to make vests of his own, differentiated by a higher degree of natural fabrics—in this case, a blend composed of roughly one third each of alpaca, merino and nylon—and a design that ditched visible branding but embraced a more tailored silhouette with a welted breast pocket, bridging the gap between Jonas’ workhorse vests and the sport jackets idling in his closet.

Even tailoring brands have clued into the practical advantages of the fleece vest. Dan Quigley, who serves as retail director for British bespoke tailor Cad & The Dandy’s ready-to-wear location in New York, notes that a reversible zip gilet made with fleecy, 100% wool on one side and waterproof technical fabric on its reverse has proven an immediate best-seller.

“It was kind of like a meme,” Quigley says of the fleece vest’s omnipresence in Midtown Manhattan, where the store is located. “It looked bad because everyone was wearing the same Patagonia one. But we knew that it’s a layering piece that can be practical and also fits into a classic wardrobe. So, we wanted to make a quality one—a luxury one, if you will.”

The luxury feel is not only reflected by its price tag ($1,550), but also in higher-end features like a two-way zipper and a color palette of either deep navy or cream. The design, however, has proven popular enough that Cad & The Dandy will soon be offering it both made-to-order and bespoke, in virtually the full range of cloths that the tailor has available.

That emphasis on better materials, sleeker design and upgraded features is also shared by Percorso, a new Italian brand that launched earlier this year with a single product: a reversible vest that presents as sporty on one side with Italian microfleece fabric, side-entry pockets, a vertical zipper at the chest and even a subtle tonal logo, and reverses to a tech-fabric opposite whose front patch pockets and welted breast pocket code it like a blazer.

“While classic menswear has experienced a remarkable revival over the past decade—with bespoke tailoring flourishing and artisans gaining well-deserved recognition—I still saw a significant gap in the market,” Percorso founder Semen Shlenkin tells Robb Report. “There were no compelling options that combined the codes of luxury menswear with true technical performance: garments that could support the modern, ambitious man throughout his fast-paced, multidimensional life.”

Taking the sleek route is one way to beat the Midtown Uniform allegations, but an opposite tack may prove just as effective. The London-based retailer Drake’s, initially known for its silk ties and accessories, has lately leaned into its own line of fleece, whose bright, primary colors and fluffy bouclé wool fabric place them squarely on the sportswear side of the ledger, with a cheeky “D” pennant flag on the chest standing in for a branded logo or company name. Which may suggest that there’s plenty of room for improving on the fleece vest—so long as whatever form that takes is differentiated from the pack. 

“People don’t want to be a ‘bro,” Jonas says. “They just want to be comfortable.”

Credit: robbreport.com