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: 

There’s something very Kendall Roy rapping “L to the OG” about this…

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:

Do we think he’s sippin’ on that D'Ussé? Or perhaps: Sir Davis?

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. 

“Now let me hold your hand when i say this………”

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: