Zuckerberg softens his look with some geeky tweaks — and a message

By David Mack, CNN

(CNN) — Clothes can often tell a story. In Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s case, he’s really spelling it out for us.

Appearing Wednesday at a company event in Menlo Park, California, Zuckerberg opted for a shirt that carried an overt message — and an apt one at that, considering he was showcasing the latest Meta designs in AI and wearable tech. Zuckerberg’s oversized black T-shirt bore the words “BUILDING IS MY LOVE LANGUAGE,” in Serif font.

The boxy shirt looked similar to others Zuck has previously had custom-made via a partnership with Los Angeles-based designer Mike Amiri. Reps for Meta and Amiri didn’t respond to requests for comment on his latest piece, but it was yet another reminder that Zuckerberg’s days of traditional tech-bro hoodies and tight, heather-grey T-shirts are long behind him. Still, he appeared to make some subtle tweaks to the more swaggering streetwear-inspired look he has been sporting in recent years.

For one, his mustard brown trousers with a notably preppy pleat down their front. But more prominently, Zuckerberg wore a few different pairs of Meta’s AI-augmented, Ray-Ban eyeglasses. One had a thicker frame in tortoise shell, but the glasses he wore when he first stepped on stage were a more traditional Browline pair with a bold upper frame — a style first introduced by Shuron in 1947 that became a staple of 1950s style. This new Meta pair of “audio glasses” in Ray-Ban’s Clubmaster style feature microphones and AI connect ability but no camera, in concession to privacy advocates.

“Style is important,” Zuckerberg told the crowd in his keynote address, “because if you’re going to be wearing glasses all day long, they have to be great glasses first. Before we even talk about any technology, the design needs to be glasses that you want to wear.”

A message about love and the geeky slant to the Facebook founder’s on-stage look arguably softens the Manosphere-like image he has adopted, with gold chain jewelry and baggy silhouettes. And he’d be wise to do this if he wants to prove that he can be trusted with what may be the most rapidly advancing – and many fear dangerous – technology in the world. Verge senior correspondent Tom Warren likened Wednesday’s new look to the 🤓 nerd emoji in a sign Zuckerberg had perhaps achieved his goal.

Derek Guy, the menswear writer behind the @dieworkwear accounts, noted the tech mogul’s new glasses were most strongly associated with establishment figures or intellectuals from the ‘50s and ‘60s. “It gives off an air of intellectualism, government-man seriousness,” Guy said.

Guy also noted how far Zuckerberg had come since being the “whiz-kid hacker… poster child of not caring about style,” but said he suspected this was just a sign of his age, rather than anything outwardly political, as some have speculated.

“Mark Zuckerberg still is basically a T-shirt and pants — and sometimes hoodies — guy, but the choices are much more intentional,” Guy said. “It’s a little bit more directional … a little bit more stylish.”

Zuckerberg’s image is likely to take another hit next month when Aaron Sorkin’s movie “The Social Reckoning” hits theaters. In that movie, a sequel to 2010’s “The Social Network,” Zuckerberg is played by “Succession” star Jeremy Strong, as he navigates the fallout from the 2021 leak about the company’s handling of misinformation and other sensitive issues.

In the film’s trailer, Strong sports the same unfortunate Caesar haircut the tech founder had in the late 2010s and early 2020s — something Zuckerberg has replaced in recent years by growing out his natural curls.

Zuckerberg wasn’t the only one drawing attention for his sartorial choices at Wednesday’s event. Alexandr Wang, Meta’s chief AI officer, appeared on stage wearing a loose, green camo T-shirt emblazoned with drawings of White-tailed deer and the words “Lake Tahoe” that he said he’d thrifted in Santa Cruz, California, for $30.

He finished his look with a slightly tapered pair of “falketind” hiking pants from Norwegian outfitter Norrøna (featuring one comically large pocket), a pair of Crocs from the Realtree Camo Collection, and a boxy pair of eyeglasses with a thin wire frame.

Perhaps thanks to Wang’s messy mullet, the whole look had something of a gas station chic vibe.

“Dress for the job you want,” Wang wrote on X.

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