AfriPulse
Jeremy Strong is very good at playing devious men with very deep pockets. First came his star-making role as Kendall Roy in Succession, where he played a troubled heir apparent to a Rupert Murdoch–esque patriarch. Then came his turn in The Apprentice as Roy Cohn, mentor and lawyer to Donald Trump. Later this year, he will take on Mark Zuckerberg himself in The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin’s sequel to David Fincher’s acclaimed The Social Network.
“It was a great, challenging role for me,” Strong says as we sit poolside at a Loro Piana event in Saint-Tropez. He won’t say much of the film—his third with Sorkin—other than this, and that he thinks “it’s a movie that is going to touch the third rail of a lot of things.”
In reaction to the trailer, audiences and online armchair critics seemed to agree that Strong, a famed character actor, had nailed down one particular quality of Mark Zuckerberg’s: his voice. Strong as a curly-haired blond is less convincing at first sight—but the fact that viewers are able to meticulously judge this portrayal speaks less to the film and more to the way in which Zuckerberg has penetrated the collective consciousness. The tech mogul is not remarkable-looking in any way, yet his actual look has been widely discussed over the years through its many iterations.
I anticipate Zuckerberg will amp up his public image once more as the release of The Social Reckoning approaches. And for that, it seems he’s called in the big guns.
While I’m told by several sources that he is working with famed celebrity stylist Karla Welch—who is known for collaborating with some of the best-dressed women today, including Tracee Ellis Ross and Sarah Paulson, and also consulted with Kamala Harris during her vice presidency—her reps did not reply to multiple requests for comment. When asked if Zuckerberg was indeed working with Welch or had hired a stylist, Iska Saric, the VP of CEO communications at Meta, said, “This is not true. Mark has worked with a stylist from time to time for special events but his fashion choices are his own.” Who the stylist is remains undisclosed, and Saric affirmed that “Mark does the vast majority of his shopping himself.”
Zuckerberg is not the only billionaire working, if even occasionally, with a stylist for special appearances. Lauren Sánchez Bezos works with Law Roach, of Zendaya fame, from time to time, presumably starting with her attendance at the Paris couture shows in January and, most notably, at the 2026 Met Gala, which she sponsored alongside her husband, Jeff Bezos. Heiress and retail executive Isha Ambani has worked with Dani Michelle, of Kendall Jenner fame, recently, and I’m told that Jessica Paster, who works with model Miranda Kerr, oftentimes consults with her husband and Snapchat cofounder Evan Spiegel. The billionaires’ new clothes!
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at the Prada fall 2026 ready-to-wear show in Milan, February 26, 2026.
Simbarashe Cha/The New York Times/Redux
As portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, Zuckerberg is a nerdy Harvard student whose look is a complete afterthought: jeans, flip-flops, T-shirts, and zip-up hoodies. It’s a self-presentation that did not seem to change once he and his cofounder Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) hit the tech jackpot, in contrast to how Saverin seemed to lean into luxury. One of the most famous lines in the film is spoken by Garfield as his character responds to criticism about his fashion from Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president (Justin Timberlake), while mocking Zuckerberg’s infamously lazy uniform: “My Prada’s at the cleaners! Along with my hoodie and my fuck-you flip-flops, you pretentious douchebag!”
It’s pure coincidence (though it reads as if conceived by a late-night comedy-skit writer) that in January Zuckerberg became the internet’s main character by attending the Prada fall-winter 2026 menswear show in Milan. As he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, sat front row, many on the internet questioned why he was there (and designer Miuccia Prada’s motives, as she is known to have been a dedicated member of the Italian Communist Party in her youth). Alas, the answer was less tantalizing than it may have appeared. His attendance might have been somewhat of a business meeting: Prada is said to be partnering with Meta in the latest iteration of its AI glasses, though neither Prada nor Meta has publicly confirmed the collaboration.
A few years ago, there was a noticeable shift in Zuckerberg’s appearance. He looked more polished and appeared to dress, if not more elegantly, with more intention. There was a golden Cuban link chain and some thick oversized T-shirts, and he appeared…jacked. He had been training in mixed martial arts. It all landed like an attempt at cool-ifying his public image: a techy nerd no more, but a dude who wears Fear of God tees and cashmere Prada polos.
Last September, I saw this same version of Zuckerberg onstage at Meta Connect, the annual conference held in Menlo Park, California, in which the company presents its ongoing innovations. (I attended as a guest of Instagram.) I watched the executive prance onstage in his new uniform as he presented the latest iteration of the Meta glasses, which included an Oakley pair for running that he demonstrated on a jog with none other than Diplo. It’s a fascinating experience, as someone who sits at fashion shows practically for a living, to be pitched an accessory by someone who is famously not stylish.
Trump’s Dangerously Absurd Quest to Seize Greenland Was the Start of a Worldwide Rampage
Searching for the Victims—and Answers—After the July 4 Flood That Devastated Texas
Source: VanityFair | Read the Full Story…
