If you’ve been on TikTok or Instagram the past few weeks, you may have seen guys standing around in quarter zip jumpers and holding cups of matcha. The trend has gone super viral, but what exactly does it mean, and where does it come from? Here are all the answers you need.
The quarter zip trend actually started on TikTok
Early this November, Jason Gyamfi filmed a video with his friend in Brooklyn that now has over 23 million views. In the video, they’re both wearing quarter zip jumpers and swirling their ice-cold matchas.
@whois.jason @Richdafifth life different when u gotta quarter zip #matcha #quarterzip #performative #niketech
“We don’t do Nike tech, we don’t do coffee, it’s straight quarter zips and matcha round here,” he said. “He was talking about some putting on a Nike tech to come outside, I told him, what are you doing? We’ve upgraded in life, we wear glasses now, we wear quarter zips now.”
“Yesterday I was in the hood, today I’m wearing this sweater, I’m in Blank Street gang, change your life gang,” his friend replied.
Jason added: “Techs down, quarter zips up.”
The viral video has now started a trend, where men swap out their tracksuits and baggy clothes for quarter zips, leaning into a corporate appropriate kind of style.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, Jason said: “The movement is elevation at the end of the day, when you leave your house, you’re the best version of yourself, point blank, period.”
It’s now causing a full on quarter zip movement
Since this trend started, more and more people have been joining in on this trend, including popular TikTok creators, and even huge UK rapper Central Cee..
@centralcee
The quarter zip movement is the latest trend from young people making fun of corporate life and “big boy jobs”. This comes after the “final quarter” jokes and Corporate Erin, a TikTok comedian who blew up for her spot-on impressions of office environments. At the same time, the trend focuses on going against stereotype of who should be in professional spaces, and is mostly led by African American men.
But for Jason, it’s not just about what you wear.
“The man makes the clothes, not the clothes make the man,” he said.
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Featured image via TikTok
