Culture & Education

John Imah knows how to avoid the tech founder fashion trap

“When you’re an entrepreneur, you wear multiple hats, no pun intended, but pun intended,” says John Imah, the founder of SpreeAI, a platform on a mission to make shopping for clothes online easier through AI-powered virtual fitting rooms equipped with size-prediction tools and personalized styling.  Imah is one of the rare figures in tech to land on best dressed lists. In a world of quarter zips and logo tees, he’s chosen instead to wear independent labels and couture fashion. The most recent thing he’s bought? A full suit from Kidsuper, a streetwear brand based in Brooklyn. “I never want to look like the algorithm’s idea of a tech founder,” he says. This spring he hit the Met Gala carpet in a regal and luxuriously draped ivory overcoat, ivory suit, and a gold vest by Harbison Studio that riffed on the idea of tech royalty. Last year he wore a double-breasted lavender suit, a beaded and embroidered overcoat, a coral necklace, and a lavender kufi by Sergio Hudson—an ensemble that nodded to Imah’s Nigerian roots.  [Source images: Courtesy John Imah, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, John Shearer/WireImage/Getty Images SugarSatea (Clip)/CC-BY 4.0, Adobe Stock (textures)] Part of Imah’s success with SpreeAI, which earned a $1.5 billion valuation in 2025, is dressing for the part. He founded his company after stints at Snap Inc., Meta, and Amazon. And while fashion has been part of his life since he was in high school, he recognized that he “needed to take it to the next level” in order to make his company a success so that “people realized that I wasn’t a tech guy trying to just get into fashion,” he says. “It’s like, no, this person has always been fashionable and respects this space. He just so happens to have a tech background.” To that end, Imah adopts a somewhat chameleon-like approach to dressing, enabling him to respectfully command attention in whatever rooms he might enter, be it a board meeting with investors or introductions to potential clients of his growing platform. (For the latter, he likes to wear clothing from the brand. “It just becomes a conversation point,” he says. “The way that it’s styled on me, that gets their attention. They’re always like, okay, he respects our brand. Let’s talk to him.”) Calling Fast Company from Los Angeles—he’s bicoastal between there and New York—Imah is dressed casually in a navy-blue Yankees cap, a white tee, wired earbuds, and an olive-green flannel jacket he designed and made himself. During COVID-19, he taught himself how to sew. “Especially being an introvert and being closed in, you’d be surprised what you could learn during that time,” he says. “My goal I haven’t told anyone yet is I want to make my outfit from scratch for a gala or big event.” Imah’s journey to this point is, in some ways, surprising. When he was growing up, his mother was very stylish. “If we went to the grocery store or the gas station, she was always in fashionista mode, wearing gowns and dresses,” Imah says. Meanwhile, he protested having to dress up. “I actually hated fashion,” Imah recalls. In his youth he preferred Hot Topic T-shirts with slogans like Calculus Nerd or I Love PI. “I was this really, really nerdy kid that was good with technology and in those days I dressed like a nerd,” he says.  [Source images: Courtesy John Imah, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, Adobe Stock (textures)] Then, around high school a switch flipped and he began to take fashion seriously. He saved up his money and bought a blue monogrammed Dior tracksuit and was hooked. “When I put on that tracksuit and got a haircut, I felt so confident I could just take over the world,” he says. “And that’s how I feel every time when I dress up. When I go to events—it could be the Met Gala, it could be a meeting—fashion and I have become one and it just helps boost my self-esteem and confidence.” Describe your style in a sentence. My style is a chameleon with a signature. I can move from sculptural, almost ceremonial tailoring to an oversized knit and deconstructed denim, but the through line is always strong proportion, clean lines, and one detail that makes you look twice—and I dress for the room without ever letting the room dress me. What’s the one piece in your closet you’ll never get rid of? The ivory-and-gold coat from my 2026 Met Gala look, created with Charles Harbison. It carries theater, history, and craftsmanship, but it also marks a moment when I allowed myself to take up space without apology. It is not exactly an everyday piece, but it will never leave my archive. [Source images: Courtesy John Imah, Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images, Adobe Stock (textures)] How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning? Ten minutes, honestly. My wardrobe has a lot of range, but I know it well, so once I understand where I’m going and the energy I need, I trust my instincts. A normal morning should not require a board meeting with myself. The Met Gala, admittedly, was a different kind of morning. What do you wear to a big meeting? I dress for the objective, not for a generic idea of business. That might mean a sharp double-breasted suit with a strong trouser and one unexpected detail—a brooch, a texture, or a great shoe—or something quieter if the room needs the focus elsewhere. I want to signal respect and confidence, but I never want to look like the algorithm’s idea of a tech founder. What’s the best piece of fashion advice you’ve ever gotten? My mother taught me to be a chameleon with fashion: adapt and react. She was not telling me to disappear into a room; she meant that I should understand the room. Know your audience, respect the occasion, and then decide which part of yourself to turn up. It became as much business advice as fashion advice. What’s one thing anyone can do to dress better at work? Stop treating “professional” like a costume. Start with fit and proportion, then think about context and what you want to communicate. Most people do not need a completely new wardrobe; they need to understand what already makes them stand taller—and probably find a good tailor. [Source Images: courtesy John Imah, Adobe Stock (textures)] Who is your style north star? My mother. She was a fashionista in the truest sense and could wear almost anything and make it look inevitable, because her confidence came before the clothes. Watching her taught me that style is not about owning one look; it is knowing yourself well enough to have range without ever looking disguised. That balance still guides me. What’s one brand everyone should know about? Harbison Studio. Charles Harbison understands color, architecture, and drama, but the clothes still feel personal rather than theatrical for theater’s sake. He created my Met Gala look, and that process reminded me that the best fashion is a conversation between the designer, the wearer, and the moment. What’s your best piece of shopping advice? Do not shop by committee, and do not buy clothes for the imaginary version of your life. If you have to ask five people whether something is “you,” it probably is not. The right piece usually changes your posture before you leave the fitting room—and you can already imagine more than one life for it.