The world is on fire and Mark Zuckerberg is dressed like a Hillsong youth pastor. Yes, as Brat Summer wanes into Christian Girl Autumn, change is naturally in the air. Many have already taken this transformative time upon themselves—perhaps most disconcertingly, the Facebook founder, with a sudden pivot to streetwear.
On stage in San Francisco in late September, Zuckerberg sat down with Acquired podcast hosts David Rosenthal and Ben Gilbert to chat about his career. But many could only fixate on his outfit: an oversize black tee with large Greek letters (they read “learning through suffering”) and a thick gold chain peeking out from underneath. It’s part of a new aesthetic that our social feed-fried eyes are adjusting to; Zuckerberg is laid back, wears loose clothing, grows out his hair. He reeks less of Silicon Valley and increasingly more of Dior Sauvage.
“When did he start dressing like this,” one commenter wrote in response to a viral video of Zuckerberg in similar on-trend ensembles. “From mr. steal your data to mr. steal your girl,” another user tweeted.
The tee in particular, co-designed with Mike Amiri, has become one emblem of Zuckerberg’s new stylings. (Amiri’s eponymous label, which has made a name for itself as a laid back, West Coast menswear brand, has been worn by a number of dubiously fashionable celebrities: Justin Bieber, Jared Leto, One Direction star Louis Tomlinson.) The man we once knew, famous for his static uniform of jeans and gray tees, is now sporting Hillsong youth pastor fits, jewelry, and a full head of hair with a distinctive curl pattern to boot.
Men’s fashion commentator Derek Guy, known as @dieworkwear on Twitter, said Zuckerberg’s new silhouette embodies distinct choices, and messaging.
This discussion is not new—Guy himself posed the terrifying question “is Mark Zuckerberg becoming stylish?” this past spring—but it has regularly sparked discourse as the tech mogul rolled out his wardrobe overhaul in recent months. It first began when Zuckerberg appeared on Instagram Reels to announce updates to Meta AI, showcasing that luscious hair and a chain that quickly became the subject of many memes (and one viral edit featuring all-too-attractive augmented facial hair).
He has continued to express interest in fashion in the months since, sparking rumors about buying streetwear label Supreme and releasing some quirky statement glasses in lieu of the Metaverse.
“They’re certainly more intentional choices, and dovetail with streetwear that’s been popular since Kanye West,” Guy said. “It seems to have trickled down to Zuckerberg, who is certainly not sitting at the leading edge of fashion.”
Though a spokesperson for Meta told The New York Times that Zuckerberg has not been working with a stylist, Guy remains skeptical. “I think if you were experimenting with your own style, we would see more mishaps,” he said. Within the span of a month, for example, Zuckerberg went from publicly wearing zero watches to at least five tastefully aspirational ones. Sure, he can afford them, but still.
Historically, the Silicon Valley CEO style game has involved dressing as close to a Mii character as possible; the industry’s most successful personas have long been men who actively discouraged an interest in dressing up. Think Steve Jobs with his black turtleneck and jeans; Jack Dorsey with that beard; Sam Bankman-Fried with—deep sigh— summer camp cargo shorts.
This merry band of tech bros turned their dull duds into a status symbol, becoming the poster boys for meritocracy and futuristic ideals of professionalism. But as that collective image—and many individual reputations with it—has soured, there’ve been clear attempts at rebranding.
Stylist Kathryn Hamed, who has worked with celebrity clients including Sabrina Carpenter, J Balvin and Issa Rae, told The Daily Beast that style can play a role in public perception of these figures (particularly as they have fallen out of favor). “We live in such a digital world… the perception that we have of public figures often impacts their success, for better or for worse,” she said. “I think the Zuckerberg renaissance is not just about his clothing but his overall new image.”
Many such CEOs have warmed to, well, any semblance of a sense of style in recent years, ditching their Kirkland Signature wardrobes for high fashion. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang went from run-of-the-mill polos to fitted leather jackets and slim-fit tailoring; Amazon’s Jeff Bezos clearly experienced a fashion crisis in the wake of his divorce, stepping out in looks that could be described anywhere from “Miami promoter tripping acid at Berlin warehouse rave” to “sexy space cowboy Spirit Halloween costume.” Lauren Sanchez surely deserves some credit.
“I think Jensen Huang does it better than Zuckerberg and Zuckerberg does it better than Bezos,” Guy said.
Alongside Zuckerberg’s fashion evolution, he’s also begun to appear in more casual, cultural contexts. He’s shown up ringside at UFC fights, chugged beer while surfing, took his daughter to the Eras tour. He’s gone to cookouts with his family while sporting yet another graphic tee reading “Carthage must be destroyed” in Latin.
Look at this new man before us. Look at his outfit. Nihilistic slogans aside, this cannot be the villain that has secret meetings with former president Donald Trump, mines the world’s personal data to get mind-bogglingly richer, builds apps that have allowed misinformation and conspiracy theories to flourish. No! With his thick floss chain and unruly head of curls, could never, he is, at most, a product manager at a behemoth consumer goods corporation, or a creative director who is very passionate about film photography.
“He is more approachable to many of us, a bit more relatable, a family man not just a businessman,” Hamed said. “He has evolved from Mark Zuckerberg, billionaire CEO, to Mark Zuckerberg, millennial bro.”
Guy believes the glow ups don’t have much to do with currying public favor, but rather the inevitable decision to look nice for the cameras. (“Even in the tech realm people do care about clothes,” he said. “They want to look better than SBF.”)
It’s a shift from the usual reasons that Zuckerberg has been on the public’s lips for years—and it’s certainly capturing attention, good and bad. But it’s hard to tell if this new look is yet working to turn the tides, or will be enough for us to buy what he’s selling. There are only so many languages on a tee shirt you can wear, after all, before people start to wonder what else you could possibly have left to say.
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