What is Mark Zuckerberg Wearing?
stylists are the new publicists
Has anyone seen how Mark Zuckerberg has been dressing lately? I was scrolling the other day and came across the following image:
At a recent conference in California’s Menlo Park, Zuckerberg took to the stage wearing an oversized black t-shirt donning embossed lettering that spelled out “Aut Zuck Aut Nihil.” In Latin, this roughly translates to “Either Zuck or Nothing,” a play on the Roman governor Julius Caesar. The oversized black shirt draped over him, cliffing his (newly) broad shoulders like the cape of a supervillain. The black lettering on the phantom shirt is that of a Final Boss, back from the dead by way of a Demna-era Balenciaga—the look of a disgraced emperor returning with new clothes.
Other accouterments are worth noting. His hair has grown, longer and tasseled in a loose curl like he’s Drake’s hidden son Adonis. The newfound nappiness is cherubic, almost as if he received a playful nuggie from a camp counselor before going on stage. The curls' precision and how the locks fall into place evenly render as ‘cute’ on the billionaire, softening him. A neo-noir posturing can be read when paired with the tinted AR glasses, obscuring his face and brows with an Olsen twin-like anonymity.
This wouldn’t be the first time he’s stepped out in his black tee. Here is Zuckerberg at his 40th birthday party, a gold chain hovering above another Latin tagline, looking like the Paul Wall of Silicon Valley:
Now, I don’t have an issue with this. I am supportive of a glow-up. But I’m also curious as to what this means. Although the makeover episodes of America’s Next Top Model are imprinted in my brain, I can’t imagine that Tyra Banks strutted into the Meta offices and said “Guess what, Mark?! I’m turning you Black for today’s photoshoot!” as she’s done in the past. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest humans on earth. He and his team did this at their own volition. Everything is strategic. So what is this outfit telling us?
Mark Zuckerberg was introduced to me as a caricature. Okay, fine. I had a Facebook profile and knew of the platform’s founder but it wasn’t until I watched The Social Network, the best Sorkin in my opinion, that he became a tangible entity. Delivered by Jesse Eisenberg, the Zuckerberg we witnessed was stuttering and anal. Autistic drag. Oily, ugly, and meant to be hated for it. For two hours, we watched as this Zuckerberg belittled and betrayed his small community to create an empire that would usher in the most significant media shift of our lifetime.
My favourite scene from the film is the one at the beginning where Eisenberg sits in a pub opposite Rooney Mara, who plays Zuckerberg’s soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, Erica Albright. In under five minutes, he speaks over her, disrespects her intelligence, and accuses her of sleeping with “the door guy,” without a clue as to how offensive he is being. Albright (who isn’t based on a real person, low-key another a jab levied at Zuckerberg from Sorkin’s camp) does what anyone else would do. She reads his future and then reads him for filth:
“You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. You are going to go through life thinking girls don’t like you because you're a nerd and I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that that won’t be true. It will be because you’re an asshole.”
This line still hits a decade and a half later. “Computer person?” “From the bottom of my heart?” She actually holds his hand as she says this. Now that’s how you clear a bitch! With this rocky introduction to the public’s consciousness at such a large scale (the film debuted at #1 at the box office and received widespread critical acclaim), Zuckerberg’s reputation was tilted for tanking.
Zuckerberg’s public castration continued: the fake news scandals, the Supreme Court trials, the employee walkouts, his awkward surfing photos, and, like, the election. The founder was consistently flanked in the town square for his moronic tendencies that were seemingly in opposition to the greater good. Painted as a modern-day supervillain, Zuckerberg was simultaneously feared for his outsized power and the butt of all jokes, even his butt being a joke at times.
But then something happened: Facebook became Meta.
It’s a big deal for an organization to change its name. To do away with the brand equity it has vested and ditch the reputation it has established with its consumers over the years. It’s also risky because… it may not work. I mean, how many of us are still calling X by its old name, Twitter?
According to Zuckerberg, this name change was enacted to be more representative of the slate of products that will power the ‘metaverse.’ He continues:
“Right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future. Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and identity on what we’re building toward.”
The ‘one product’ he is referring to is Facebook and, with this statement, he is sharing his vision to expand beyond the singular platform and into other more relevant ones (ie. AR/VR headsets and AI).
This may be true but there is potentially another reason. Facebook had garnered so much negative sentiment over the past decade that its brand was virtually in the toilet. By changing the name and updating the look, the organization could sever itself from the faults of its past for a chance of a future. Like when ‘Puff Daddy’ changed his name to ‘P Diddy’… except not.
But what do with the founder? The founder whose image is so intrinsically tied to the perception of the company? When people thought of Facebook, and the web of controversy surrounding it, they also thought of the pathetic caricature Sorkin created for The Social Network years ago. If the company needed a facelift, perhaps so did Mark Zuckerberg. And so, if Facebook would become Meta, then Mark Zuckerberg would have to become “The Zuck.”
Which is how we got to this…
And this…
And this…
The new Zuckerberg possesses what our previous perception of him didn’t: a proximity to culture. He appears more relaxed. Socially adjusted. Human. And dare I say: likable? For a founder determined to find a way for his products to show up in the way we live, via the metaverse, a cursory understanding of people and culture — or a posture of an understanding — is required. Maybe an oversized black tee can bring him closer.
As the mechanics of the fashion industry become increasingly legible – be it through brand collaborations, visibility to high fashion runways via Instagram Live or heavily broadcasted events tipped for virality like the MET Gala or Vogue World – the world of apparel and design has become more accessible.
Suddenly, we can all pronounce LOEWE. Our favourite influencers have replaced magazine editors in the fashion front row. Celebrities and their children have replaced models in campaigns and on the runway. TikTokers break down fashion theory (my fave being Rian Phin) and toot-or-boot red carpet looks like modern-day Joan Rivers. Books have brand collabs now.
With this in mind, fashion has become a critical tool for PR. One season with a good stylist can re-cast someone into something else.
The case studies runneth over on how the dedicated partnership between stylist Law Roach and Zendaya made her a star well before she secured a role as a leading lady on the big screen1. We witnessed the star power of Zendaya on the red carpet for years, making headlines with the spectacles she brought to the MET Gala long before she starred in Challengers. She dressed for the part she wanted and got it.
Relatedly, I have noticed that Saoirse Ronan is partnering with one of my favourite stylists of the moment, Danielle Goldberg (who works with Ayo Edebiri, Greta Gerwig, and Solange), to help her get it together for The Outrun press cycle. Ronan is more known for being an actress (an impressive four Academy Award nominations at the age of 30) than a celebrity. I’ve always respected Ronan as one of the more ‘dedicated’ actresses of her generation, with exceptional taste when it comes to selecting films. But perhaps, her collaboration with Goldberg signals another aspiration: her desire to become a star2.
This year, I had the opportunity to attend Paris and New York Fashion Week. Between the two weeks, I was able to take notice of how a variety of actors, musicians, and writers skillfully used the engine of fashion week to promote various projects. They’d show up, get fitted by the brand’s PR team, sit front row, and leisurely watch the garments stroll by. Then, a few hours later, they’d benefit from the boom of impressions generated. This year alone, friend of the newsletter, LUAR was the most talked about brand at NYFW, supported by a frenzy of all-star talent from Ice Spice to Madonna to Offset to Jenna Lyons. It's a reciprocal relationship, that from brand to star. It’s no secret that those who look great can have a leg up in the attention economy but, in the case of Zuckerberg and Zendaya, it can also bolster your perception. I mean, all it took was a couple of fashion campaigns and hot outfits for y’all to stop hating Anne Hathaway.
So when I see “The Zuck” and I take a look at the emperor’s new clothes, I’m much more interested in what the outfit is trying to promise me than the individual items. By wearing this, what is he trying to change my mind about? In a world where people skim headlines and scroll rapidly through photos, as I did with Zuckerberg, I think about the visual language of an outfit.
Miuccia Prada once said:
"What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language."
That is the thing about Ms. Prada. She’s often never wrong. And with that, your stylist is your publicist, and each outfit is a new press statement to the world.
LOOSEY is a bi-weekly newsletter about culture, technology, and the way we live. If this is something you like, consider subscribing and sharing. Let’s be friends on Instagram.
Legacy LOOSEY readers will know that we don’t recognize M*lcolm & M*rie in this household and neither should she!
I promise this isn’t shade. I have been stanning Ronan since Atonement and I DO see it for her but you cannot be a star until the average household knows how to pronounce and text your name. Ladybird hive, ALWAYS.
I think Zucc’s fashion change is another sign of the shift away from nerd culture being cool. 2005-2020 was the era of mainstreaming nerd culture, and Zucc’s middle age pivot to designer brands seems to be coming just as the public is souring to Marvel and Star Wars movies, progressives turning on Harry Potter, and Big Bang Theory’s spinoff being an affirmation of middle American traditionalism.
This was such a fun read, your mind >
Savoured every word.