Well, so much for Meta. The big news that The Facebook Company was rebranding met with much skepticism as pundits attempt to make sense of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's plan.
Amidst scandals like The Facebook Papers and whistleblower Frances Haugen's testimony, Meta has emerged as a major part of Zuckerberg and co.'s larger attempts to stem the flood of bad press.
In his open letter announcing his company's push into "the metaverse," Zuckerberg said that "the last five years have been humbling," which is perhaps an understatement. He also described Meta's aim to create that metaverse, where we'll all become holograms and teleport to the office or warp into the world virtual gaming.
Perhaps we'll all be wearing Balenciaga, too.
Meta's Twitter account has been tagging various companies that seem to fit into its vision of the metaverse, including Pintrest and beloved — seriously — Texas grocery store chain HEB.
Interestingly, Meta also asked Balenciaga about the metaverse's "dress code."
Possibly just a cheeky salutation, possibly a hint at a future Meta x Balenciaga crossover.
Early in Meta's lengthy video discussing the company's aims, Zuckerberg demonstrates the process of "dressing" his avatar, a 3D digital figure that nails his uncanny valley charm.
Seems like an easy slam dunk to simply fit some of Balenciaga's oversized hoodies and chunky sneakers into that avatar customization menu. After all, if these holograms really are representative of us, they ought to dress like we do, right?
Given Balenciaga's video game obsession and general interest in all things virtual reality, an intersection with Meta hardly seems far-fetched.
Balenciaga has been at the forefront of the industry's big push into the gaming realm (hello Fortnite collab) and a Meta partnership wouldn't even be its most far-out collaboration, especially in light of the recent Rammstein and Simpsons mix-ups.
Plus, Balenciaga could make Zuck the ultimate athleisure uniform — just swap the Brunello Cucinelli basics for a couture hoodie.
