Some of the world’s richest people are gathering for the wedding of Jeff Bezos, the world’s third-richest man, in one of the world’s most touristy cities, Venice, and it’s easy to ask: What happened to understatement and restraint? In the run-up to the wedding, Mr. Bezos was photographed by paparazzi on the deck of his yacht with his intended, Lauren Sánchez, both in their swimsuits, frolicking in foam like a couple of college kids on spring break. Meanwhile, missiles and bombs have been falling just a few time zones away,
Not so long ago, members of high society were fixated on trying to low-key their way out of the perils of income inequality. Minimalism and quiet luxury were in vogue. But in the wake of President Trump’s second election, it’s the luxe life at full volume. He gilded the White House, turning it into a Rococo Liberace lair. Swaggy and braggy have replaced stealth wealth. Flaunting it is in. For women, that means sequins, diamonds, tight silhouettes and big hair. TikTok’s latest star, Becca Bloom, has drawn millions of fans by regularly sharing videos of her lavish jewelry and Hermès shopping hauls. Even the bandage dress is trending again. The breast implant business just keeps getting bigger and is expected to reach $4.6 billion by 2030, up from nearly $3 billion in 2024.
For men, it means a hypermasculine look: muscles and slicked-back hair; tight, tailored suits with big Windsor knots.
And now there are the Bezos-Sánchez nuptials, the most internationally notable ruling-class wedding since the Ambani-Merchant union last year in India. It’s already drawn protesters determined to make Venice the city “that did not bend to oligarchs.” (The couple had to move their main reception to a new location to avoid activists who threatened to fill the canals with inflatable crocodiles.) Since news of Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sánchez’s relationship broke in a tabloid scandal in early 2019, Ms. Sánchez has become an object of public fascination, her every movement parsed by tabloids and gossipmongers. With this much attention, she’s become one of the most visible women on (or off, as it may be) the planet, and therefore a significant fashion influencer.
Her fiancé, who shed his nerdy image and baggy office clothes for a personal-trained body, tight polo shirts and aviators, has already been anointed an unlikely style icon. Like the MAGA bros who favor traditional suiting and clean-shaven faces, his athleisure emphasizes his power, not cutting-edge fashion sense.
Ms. Sánchez, too, dresses to emphasize her clout. She’s long preferred belts with noticeable-from-a-distance hardware, embellished dresses, stiletto heels, low-cut necklines, high-cut hemlines and big jewelry. Her engagement ring is thought to be in the vicinity of 30 carats and cost somewhere between $3 million and $5 million, but it was easily dwarfed by the diamond-encrusted choker she wore to a gala in Cannes recently, with a stone that looked to be the size of a bike reflector. There was nothing low-key about her recent flaunty Paris bachelorette party, which was attended by stars such as Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner, and included a visit to the Hermès store with executives from the brand.
