When the pocket protectors and taped glasses version of the geek gradually gave way to present-day techie staples such as hoodies and flip flops, it might have seemed like the evolution of geek style had hit its ceiling — simplicity and comfort in the service of marathon coding sessions.

This aggressively casual approach, the style of no style, is embodied most visibly in the likes the of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who refuses to part with his hoodie, even pre-IPO, and Apple’s design chief Jony Ive, who talks a good design game, but is usually seen in a t-shirt and jeans.

But in recent months, as the once fragile “tech bubble” has failed to burst, a subtle shift toward shedding the sweatpants and New Balance running shoes and adopting a cleaner, more professional look has begun to crop up among some developers.

While the average developer look in Silicon Valley still hews relatively close to the beach bum stereotype, in New York, one developer, Rameet Chawla, has become a high profile outlier hinting at a maturation of style within the developer community.

“I have this theory,” says Chawla of the lack of attention to fashion exhibited by most coders. “I think it stems from college culture. Sweatpants and hoodies were the way to go to class, so when it came time to do startups, for many people, that culture crossed over. In the last 10 to 15 years it’s gotten worse, especially in the U.S.”

The habit of slovenly looks draped over big brains also threatens to take over the rest of the developer community around the globe, Chawla says. “We affect global culture,” he says, calling to mind the would-be European and Asian Zuckerberg’s attempting to emulate their startup hero in wrinkled t-shirts and Day-Go plastic Crocs. “It’s different in London,” Chawla says. “You can tell by the shoes. The men in London have the sharpest style.”

But with Silicon Valley as the hub of tech innovation, and New York and Los Angeles not far behind, it’s still the U.S. that points the way for global geek culture.

“If I lived anywhere else in the U.S., I would be a lot more toned down,” says Chawla, a New York native and the founder of Fueled, a software development firm and co-working space based in lower Manhattan, when referring to his decidedly unique approach to fashion compared to his peers.

“I’m really only pushed to this level because of New York,” says Chawla, whose company is in the same building as Squarespace in Soho, ironically just steps away from some of the top fashion brands such as Prada, Tiffany, Helmut Lang and Diane Von Furstenberg. “A lot of the tech guys in New York have been moved here, they’re not necessary New Yorkers, so they’re being thrown into a [developer] culture that embraces that kind of [dressed-down] look.”

But Chawla, whose long locks and massive, yet perfectly coiffed beard evoke more of a mountain man image than that of a style aficionado, doesn’t simply dress well, he seems to approach his sartorial choices with a distinct mission — near theatrical flair.

“I always joke with my friends that I have to dress up because I have such long hair,” says Chawla, “because if I don’t dress, I might look homeless. So just to get people to talk to me [in tech] I have to dress up.”