Visionary Himbos
And other modern thought leadership aesthetics
The photocall backdrop at the Miu Miu SS25 show looked like a blown-up facsimile of a dystopian newspaper titled The Truthless Times. Everyone from fashion editors to influencers and pop stars paused and smiled for a photo in front of the giant cryptic headlines that read “Endings unending as future moves to past” and “Influencer operations disrupt reality.” The QR codes under each of these titles linked to culture criticism essays about change vertigo, meaning-making, and psychopolitics of AI. And the guests in messy pearls and miniskirts only added a layer to the venue’s deeper message about the future and the present. This isn’t the first time Miuccia Prada pulled off something like this either. This year alone, Miu Miu hosted a series of popups that passed out classic feminist literature and fruity popsicles, and a literary club that offered a reflection on women’s position in society. And apparently, a long time ago, Mrs. Prada was spotted passing out communist leaflets in YSL.
This type of messy chic, effortless thought leadership feels light and refreshing, especially since the aesthetics of modern visionaries are quite limited. There are corporate PDFs and stuffy global summits, Silicon Valley blog posts and laid-back happy hours, and futuristic creative reports offering a look at the world through Balenciaga sunglasses. All of these are notably self-serious even though only a few offer a fresh perspective or have actual impact on the world. And now more than ever, their intended audiences can see right through it. Just a few weeks ago, comedian John Mulaney spent his entire gig at Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference scolding the attendees: “Let me get this straight, you’re hosting a ‘future of AI’ event in a city that has failed humanity so miserably?”
And it looks like Silicon Valley leaders are slowly realizing it. In the wake of AI blurring the lines between real and virtual, one of Silicon Valley’s most robotic-looking CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg, got a Chad makeover. He may still be preaching some insane tech nonsense from the stage, but when he does it in a loose t-shirt with a head full of curls and and a thick gold chain around his neck, we take it with a little less confrontation — not because he looks necessarily cooler or better, but because our brains unconsciously go “wait, why does he look like that?” That meaning a little more human, a little more adjusted, a little more…himbo? A total departure from the power-hungry sociopathic boy genius we know from the Cambridge Analytica hearings and David Fincher’s The Social Network.
Over the past few years, Silicon Valley in general has gotten a little too comfortable and distracted to keep up its visionary appearances. While the girls in Miu Miu are discerning between the denotative and connotative systems of information transfer, and 032c is speculating about the future of images, the richest men of Silicon Valley are either plotting how to sway the upcoming presidential election to their advantage or having a (by now outdated everywhere else) conversation about the importance of taste. A couple of years ago, people working in consumer crypto and AI were excited to figure out a cool way to mesh tech and culture together — The Dare and Caroline Polachek performed at a festival put together by a token-gated community called Friends With Benefits, and Brud’s fictional influencer Miquela offered an interesting take on social media and the hybrid nature of our culture. The scene was full of fascinating thought experiments that appealed both to tech and culture nerds until arbitrage and borderline insider trading took over, and we watched Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton yap about their Bored Ape NFTs on the Late Night show. But now that that disaster is over, and it’s clear that not many people are hungry and talented enough to deliver on the rise interest in research, hardware, and software that enhances our offline lives, the race to become the next Steve Jobs type visionary is picking up.
Unfortunately for Zuck, Bryan Johnson, the 47-year-old billionaire who is determined to live forever, might have a leg up in the competition. When he first entered the zeitgeist earlier this year, every freaky little detail we learned about his dedication to longevity research — from swapping blood with his 17-year-old son to wearing an “Adam Sensor” at night — was pretty much forced on us by the algorithm. He sounded like the culmination of everything we hate about the Silicon Valley types — the ultimate optimizer. But weirdly, the more I learned about him (against my will), the more I warmed up to him even though he remained slightly off-putting and emotionless. If anything, a guy who abides by a strict diet and invests millions of dollars into staying young forever knows more about everyday female suffering than some dude caught up in the metaverse. Cast him in The Substance sequel!
Johnson’s interview in 032c’s latest issue gives any wannabe tech visionary a run for their money. In the context of magazine pages, his personal take on the Vitruvian Man and the nude gym photoshoot look avant-garde, and the succinct answers to existential questions, like “are you able to love?” and “is there anything that scares you about life?”, make you chuckle. His whole journey towards immortality reads more like a perfomance art piece than an insane science project. Johnson’s soul may be devoid of feelings, but the core of his experiment — his own flesh and desire to live — remain deeply human. Give him a couple of seasons, and he will have a Balenciaga collab and an Interview cover — the type of cultural immersion other tech CEOs could only dream of.
What does a visionary look like in 2024? Odds are, they are no longer sporting a pair of blue jeans and a black turtleneck. Are they painting their nails bright blue in an act of religious liberation? Are they buying matching Porsches with their partner? Do they lead with the heart and mind of an old wise lady or a 15-year-old girl? The people who have made the most impact on our culture today aren’t even remotely interested in understanding culture — every decision they make is based on charts, data, and shareholder benefit. Unprecedented times call for unprecedented leaders — someone who looks like they can not only lead us into the future but offer a thoughtful reflection on the past and present too.
IN THE MARGINS:
Thinking about this piece from Rachel Tashjian that breaks down Elon Musk’s masculine costume — an aviator jacket, black jeans, leather boots, and dog tag necklaces:
“There’s a long-held perception that Silicon Valley’s male mavericks (heh) don’t think about their clothes, but in fact they appear to ponder them more than any businessman who puts on the same blue suit or skinny chinos and button-up everyday. Think Jack Dorsey and his philosophical approach to wearing Rick Owens, Mark Zuckerberg and his decision to upgrade his uniform T-shirt and jeans by swapping the tee for a $300 version by Brunello Cucinelli.
But none of these figures is as attached to the power of wearing the right garment as Musk. According to GQ, he called upon designer Emily Dawn Long to style him throughout 2018, including for that year’s Met Gala. Together, they looked to male icons such as Harrison Ford, Paul Newman and Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, who seems to have inspired the acquisition of the jacket, which he wore for a South by Southwest interview that year. (His boots then were more distressed.)
Musk seems to understand that fashion is a powerful tool for mythmaking — that replacing one uniform with another, or better yet, with a costume, will help a public figure who often misspeaks to be seen irrefutably in the way he hopes to be.
The problem is that when your behavior clashes with the source material, your look, instead of making you appear cool and powerful, underscores your weakness.”
Over at LOOSEY, Brendon is thinking about Zuck’s new wardrobe too:
“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.”
visionary himbos is an elite title -- the rest of the newsletter followed suit!! 👏👏
This was so good