Yesterday on Instagram, I noticed that Melinda French Gates, the philanthropist and ex-wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, was wearing the Courrèges turtleneck—you know, the slight, ribbed one with the little embroidered monogram that sits right at the center of the clavicle. I’ve been delighted by this turtleneck’s popularity with the Ssense crowd. Courrèges may be owned by the Pinault family office, Groupe Artémis, and it may be a historic brand, but it’s small, and it’s always nice to see attention bestowed upon a label that doesn’t generate billions of dollars a year. But why is Gates, a 59-year-old Seattle mom worth $13 billion, wearing Courrèges, with no less than an Alaïa skirt and belt? 

Looking back at Gates’s wardrobe over the years, she always looked pretty good, but now she looks designer. On her YouTube series, Moments That Make Us—where she interviews Sun Valley-adjacent female luminaries like Oprah, Reese Witherspoon, and Billie Jean King—Gates is now gussied up in puffed sleeves, psychedelic prints, and Schiaparelli shirt dresses. What happened?