Artist Uniform: Jensen Huang’s Leather Jacket Has Something To Say

In Artist Uniform, a column for Highsnobiety, Chris Erik Thomas traces how personal style shapes an artist's identity.When Marlon Brando swaggered onscreen in 1953’s The Wild One, he did so draped in a sculptural black leather biker jacket. It was this role — as Johnny Strabler, the loudmouthed leader of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club — that turned the utilitarian outerwear staple into a countercultural symbol. After the movie’s release, leather jackets were banned in some American schools, while the film itself was banned in the UK for fear it would encourage hooliganism. For seven decades, the leather jacket has been the outerwear of choice for rebels with a cause, from muscle daddies to heavy metal headbangers. No other garment feels more stitched with disobedience. But as the saying goes: You either die a beacon of countercultural cool or live long enough to see yourself co-opted by a tech CEO embroiled in an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. We’re talking, of course, about Jensen Huang. The embattled co-founder of NVIDIA may now be swept up in a scandal fit for an espionage thriller, but before all the drama, he was the so-called “Taylor Swift of tech” — a rockstar-like figure in the industry whose public appearances drew hordes of screaming fans eager for an autograph. The reputation was earned: Huang reportedly moved from Taiwan to the US as a child and went from scrubbing toilets to co-founding one of the world’s largest computing companies. But just as crucial to his American Dream narrative were the clothes he wore along the way. And no article of clothing was more central to his brand-building than the leather jacket. Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Instagram post.Not since the days of Steve Jobs’ turtlenecks has a single garment come to define a tech CEO so completely. For Huang, the jacket stays on — even in the heat of summer. One public appearance in Seoul in June went viral (and spiked Google searches for “leather jacket” by 130%) because he refused to take off his leather despite the sweltering temperatures. In July, Huang auctioned off a favorite Tom Ford piece at Sotheby’s for $960,000, with the jacket described as “a symbol of his leadership style embodying authenticity, ingenuity, persistence, courage and joy. It has become a symbol for the vision at the forefront of the AI revolution.”Getty Images, Getty ImagesThese jackets have taken on an entirely different significance now, after Huang admitted to an extramarital affair with a Chinese executive whom US intelligence reportedly suspects of passing information to the Chinese government. (He’s apologized for his actions; Beijing has denied any involvement.) In what was reported as his first public appearance since news of the affair hit the headlines, he wore a studded leather Hedi-era Saint Laurent grail. The look instantly rocketed across the internet, recasting him as a bad boy the way only a particularly sharp leather jacket can. The only problem is that nothing about it was real — the YSL jacket was added with AI to an existing image from June, when he was actually wearing a Dior zip-up. Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Instagram post.This visual, no matter how fake, is almost more powerful than anything reality could’ve produced. Some of that stems from the irony of watching AI used against the CEO of NVIDIA, the world's leading supplier of chips used for AI infrastructure. But more than that, it shows just how brittle Huang’s own carefully orchestrated self-image is; attaching yourself to a piece of clothing so tied to rebelliousness is a gamble when things go sideways. Still, whatever comes, Huang's two-decade commitment to the bit has set him apart from other wannabe tech rebels, like the sartorially confused Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Whereas those clowns will never look cool, no matter how many billions they throw at the problem, Huang actually came off as someone with drip. Part of that is because he genuinely likes the ease of wearing the same thing — and here, that thing happens to be a clothing staple imbued with decades of cool — whereas Zuck and Musk shop to project an image. Huang estimates his leather jacket collection consists of 30 to 40, with picks from luxury designers in the mix.Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Instagram post.Like the long tail of Brando’s influence, Huang’s love for these jackets became integral to his public image. That may wind up pivoting from blessing to curse. A strong leather jacket can give anyone a bit of punch, but in an industry where leaders tend to either go suit-and-tie stiff or slouchy in sweats and hoodies, Huang stood apart from the pack — projecting an approachable, everyman confidence befitting his narrative. Today, though, those same leather jackets risk making him look cocky or, worse, above the law (not helped by his close ties to Trump). Huang has been called to sit before Congress and explain himself on November 18. Whether he shows up in his beloved leather or opts for a suit will speak just as loudly as anything he says under oath.Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit our SHOPPER page and subscribe to the newsletter for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.