'Unapologetic Glamour' Dominates Bezos-Sánchez Wedding

Well, it was never going to be low-key.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s Venice wedding has been the glitzy, rococo bonanza the world expected—and then some.

Over multiple days of festivities well-documented by photographers, Sánchez and guests including Oprah Winfrey, the Kardashian-Jenners, Sydney Sweeney and Ivanka Trump have turned the waterways of Venice into a style spectacle rife with va-va-voom printed gowns, massive gems, tan, shiny, muscular limbs, just-so hair and photo-ready makeup. The fashion, heavy on form-fitting pieces from luxury designers Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Roberto Cavalli and Oscar de la Renta, speaks volumes about the way the billionaire class wants to be seen today. In a word: rich.

Sánchez , whose extravagant white lace wedding dress was designed by Dolce & Gabbana, set the tone for her guests to dress lavishly from the moment she touched down in Venice. The 55-year-old journalist’s looks also included a little black Alaïa dress for her arrival by helicopter, a black one-shoulder embellished evening gown, a white short-sleeved Dior suit and a gold Schiaparelli strapless couture gown.

As for Bezos, he played the part of buff, beaming supporting stud to his betrothed. Gone were the baggy khakis and substitute-teacher polo shirts of his geekier era, but also his much-mocked New Year’s Eve disco get-up from a few years back. Instead, he chose simple dark suits and open-collared white shirts, and a classic Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo for the wedding itself. More “Succession” than “Sopranos.” Bezos and Sánchez’s representatives did not comment.

“Every outfit feels like a visual press release that projects power, aspiration and unapologetic glamour,” said Lauren A. Rothman, a Washington, D.C., style strategist and image coach. “Their style choices broadcast status, influence and a particular brand of modern royalty.”

The men—from Bezos to Kering’s François-Henri Pinault in a simple tux—were always going to play second fiddle to the women at this wedding. As ex-Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown put it this week in a newsletter about the wedding: “If men have become addicted to the manosphere, their female counterparts are endlessly distracted by the glamosphere.”

The glamosphere was in full effect in Venice. Kris, Kendall and Kylie Jenner and Khloé and Kim Kardashian have been flitting in and out of water taxis all week in gowns and dark sunglasses. Kim wore a tiny Balenciaga tube top and skirt to one event, but for the most part, the Kardashian-Jenners channeled the same corset-gown interpretation of Italian vixens.

“For this beautiful weekend, the focus was on capturing a blend of dolce vita, dolce notte, and Venetian romance! A celebration of Italian elegance and fantasy,” emailed wedding guest Stacey Bendet, the CEO and creative director of fashion brand Alice + Olivia, and wife of film producer Eric Eisner. (Bendet tackled the complicated question of what to buy for the billionaires that have everything by giving them Labubu dolls .)

Tabloids and celebrity news sites like Just Jared have treated the event like a multiday Super Bowl, while Vogue secured an exclusive interview with Sánchez ahead of the wedding. In it, Sanchez said that her 11-minute Blue Origin space flight this April changed her thinking about the dress. Normally a fan of strapless, body-baring looks, she decided to go uncharacteristically traditional. The dress was inspired by Sophia Loren’s wedding gown in the 1958 movie “Houseboat.”

For Sánchez, who’s joked about her considerable curviness, every look is an opportunity to showcase a figure honed at innumerable yacht gyms (and presumably, doctors’ offices). So her choice of a long-sleeved wedding dress is notable—and feels more royal than racy. The gown’s long lace sleeves and structured bodice recall Kate Middleton’s 2011 Alexander McQueen gown.

No stranger to paparazzi-swarmed American weddings in Italy, designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana also hosted and outfitted Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker’s 2022 nuptials in Portofino, Italy.

For brands, some of whom sent press releases for dressing wedding guests, the wedding is a major marketing opportunity.

“She’s a significant fashion influencer because she is one of the most visible women on the planet right now, so what she wears matters,” said Amy Odell, the author of a biography of Anna Wintour and an upcoming book about Gwyneth Paltrow who has written about Sánchez. “She’s probably representative of the types of clients that these luxury brands are chasing.” Sánchez is the ultimate deep-pocketed “VIC”—very important client.

Behind the scenes, multiple fashion stylists and hair-and-makeup teams were flown in to primp the glamosphere.

Jamie Mizrahi, an A-list stylist who has worked with Adele and Jennifer Lawrence, consulted on pre-wedding looks including the white Dior suit and Hermès scarf look Sánchez wore one day in Venice. Mizrahi’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Judging from many of the guests reposting paparazzi photos of themselves in water taxis, the attention given to this wedding was welcome. Perhaps one exception? Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who kept his perpetual baseball cap on even for the wedding itself.

Write to Rory Satran at rory.satran@wsj.com