Why was Mark Zuckerberg at the Prada show? Fashion's front rows are no longer reserved for editors, celebrities and VIP clients: move over, your seat is now taken by a tech bro. Sure, fashion is no stranger to oligarchs (who do you think is dropping half a million on a couture dress?) but this marks the rise of a new class of tech billionaires in fashion.
This is only the most recent example: Meta daddy Mark Zuckerberg sitting front row at Prada with his wife, Priscilla Chan. (Remember? The one he commissioned a giant statue of?) The reason for this appearance, if rumours are true, is that Meta may soon be collaborating with Prada on AI glasses. It's not all that far-fetched, considering Meta has already collaborated with Ray-Ban and Oakley. Prada will surely get the fashion girlies interested.
Naturally, the people are split. Creators such as Louis Pisano, an influencer and journalist who reports at the intersection of fashion and politics, highlighted the issue with this. Louis specifically cited reports of AI glasses already being used to violate women's privacy, for instance through unsolicited recording. There are also fears that facial recognition could endanger victims of violence, enable stalkers and perpetuate image-based abuse.
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On the other hand, Boringnotcom, an anonymous Instagram account famous for its brutally honest (and sometimes contrarian) fashion takes, pointed out the irony of complaining about Zuckerberg on his very app. “He literally owns the platform you're using to complain on. If it bothers you that much, delete your profile,” read the post.
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But Zuck is not the only tech bro who has made an appearance in fashion lately. Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez infamously appeared at the Paris couture shows in late January, sparking waves of discourse around fashion, power, consumerism and politics. Netizens found it egregious because, while Jeff and Lauren straddled luxury in Paris, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were killing American citizens. In January, Forbes reported that ICE had made a $25 million purchase of Amazon Web Services’ cloud systems the previous September, through reselling partners like Dell Federal Systems.
Plus, Lauren's appearance alongside the most powerful woman in fashion, Anna Wintour, only added fuel to rumours that Jeff has his sights set on buying Condé Nast, Vogue's parent company. These rumours were published in the Daily Mail in July of last year.
Again, Louis Pisano pointed out the irony of Mr and Mrs Bezos appearing in Paris at the same time as massive layoffs were occurring at the Bezos-owned Washington Post. Louis drew attention to a comment by fashion writer Dana Thomas, which read: “I saw him and his wife at a couture show today in Paris, shopping for made-to-order outfits, each of which costs one or more reporters' annual salaries.”
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Meanwhile, content creator Jay Tibbitts pointed out the fact that billionaire patrons are a very necessary part of haute couture. While us online fashion lovers enjoy haute couture for its craftsmanship and drama, it is also “a playground for shopping and socialising for very wealthy people,” notes Jay.
“I'd say that surprise [around Jeff and Lauren's attendance] comes from the fact that we've turned the fashion industry into a form of entertainment," says Jay in the video, highlighting that in a way this is great because it puts more eyes on the craftsmanship of couture. “But it also sanitises the business reality that the clothes don't get made, the ateliers don't function and the houses don't exist if there's no one to buy it.”
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And if you needed more proof of the tech revolution in fashion, look no further than Gucci's new images promoting its latest show. Created by AI, the images depicted a glossy couple reclining on a car bonnet, a boujie older Milanese woman and – perhaps the only image where the use of AI half makes sense – a Gucci satellite orbiting the earth.
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In a creative industry which already feels threatened by the rise of AI and its impact on jobs, people obviously had something to say. Influencer Hanan Besovic, the brain behind the well-known account @IDeserveCouture, called it “ridiculous” and said: “This just sets such a wrong example.”
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Creator Lyas (Elias Medini) also pointed out the irony of this, considering Gucci is a luxury brand: “The real luxury is to not use AI and actually do things practically.” It is worth noting here that Gucci's current creative director is Demna Gvasalia, a designer who is no stranger to ragebait – his previous gig was at Balenciaga, which frequently went viral for its strange products and also faced a huge scandal for inappropriate child-related imagery in 2022. (The brand published a campaign in which children were holding BDSM-themed teddy bears.)
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So, whether this is another attempt at farming engagement through sparking outrage or a sign of corrupt morals is up to your interpretation. What we can say for certain, though, is that the tech revolution in fashion is here.
