The new office symbol

Put Jimmy Choo shoes and Armani suits back in the wardrobe. The new status symbol in the workplace is a cup that is slightly smaller than hockey’s Stanley Cup and nearly as valuable to some. Sometimes on the secondary market it costs two to three times more than its original price. Now she is the new symbol of style and high income.

Stanley, a century-old brand that may soon be associated with camping gear, reported that the waiting list for its cup, the Stanley Quencher, reached 150,000 customers earlier this year. Sales this year are up 275% over last year, a figure that doesn’t include resales.

Many traditional brands of style and success—designer handbags and Swiss watches—are either off-camera in Zoom meetings, or they look too dressy in offices. The Covid era has helped popularize downright humble items like hoodies, backpacks and baseball caps. Strategically positioned in the webcam frame or perched on the conference table, the Stanley Quencher is bound to elicit reactions.

Stanley’s president, Terence Riley, is a connoisseur of incredibly cool products, he was the chief marketing officer of Crocs. For him, women are largely the engine of the renaissance at Stanley, a historically male-focused company. They now command roughly half of the sales of the popular cup. He adds that it will take several months for production and distribution to fully catch up with demand, but the company will try to be ready for the start of the holiday season.