The first Aaron Sorkin Facebook movie, 2010’s The Social Network, helped cement the early aughts image of Mark Zuckerberg rebelling against corporate norms in rumpled hoodies and T-shirts. The follow-up, The Social Reckoning, is carbon-dated from 2019 to 2021. This is “post-hoodie”, as the movie’s costume designer, Susan Lyall, describes it, “post-thumbing his nose” to formality.
Zuckerberg’s reserved wardrobe of suits or interchangeable long-sleeved shirts echo his chilling composure throughout, even as fury simmers under the surface. The costume was based on deep research by Lyall and also by actor Jeremy Strong who, she says, is “very into costume”. Having worked together before, on the Sorkin movies Molly’s Game and The Trial of the Chicago 7, they would text a lot during the preparation process.
It’s my third movie with him, so I’m pretty used to it. He’s one of my favourite actors because of that. He would know exactly where [Zuckerberg] wore what.
He wanted the exact Nike shoe – the footwear was very important to him – and the exact Brunello Cucinelli T-shirt and sweater, and so on,” she says. Strong has become notorious for method acting, and method dressing, too, seems to be part of his process. That and the haircut,” says Lyall.
The conversations went deep. There aren’t that many people who want to talk about that. I always joke with him, if the acting thing doesn’t work out, you can have a position in my department!” she says.
Lyall found those Nikes – to be specific, the 2018 Nike Flyknit trainer in black anthracite – on Grailed. For the sweaters, it was Strong, she says, who worked out how to reach the eye-wateringly expensive Italian luxury brand Brunello Cucinelli, in order to buy specific pieces, “because we don’t want the latest. We want stuff from five or six years ago, and they were very helpful at procuring it.
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