Apple’s $150 iPhone Sling Designed by Steve Jobs’ Turtleneck Creator
▼ Summary
– Apple has partnered with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch the limited-edition iPhone Pocket accessory, designed by former womenswear director Yoshiyuki Miyamae.
– The iPhone Pocket features a 3D-knitted construction that fully encloses an iPhone while allowing screen visibility and can be worn handheld, tied to bags, or on the body.
– The design draws on ISSEY MIYAKE’s A-POC manufacturing system and explores the concept of personalizing how users carry their iPhones.
– It comes in two strap lengths with multiple color options, priced at $149.95 for the short version and $229.95 for the long version, and is compatible with all iPhone models.
– The collaboration reflects a historical connection, as founder Issey Miyake previously created the black mock turtlenecks that became Steve Jobs’ signature attire.
Apple has unveiled a unique partnership with the esteemed Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE, resulting in the launch of the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition accessory. This collaboration rekindles a long-standing relationship between the two companies, famously rooted in the black mock turtlenecks designed by founder Issey Miyake for the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The new accessory carries the creative vision of Yoshiyuki Miyamae, who previously led the label’s womenswear line.
Available starting Friday, November 14, the iPhone Pocket showcases what both companies describe as a “singular 3D-knitted construction.” Inspired by the idea of “a piece of cloth,” the stretchy, ribbed design completely encases an iPhone while still allowing the screen to be visible through the open textile when stretched. It offers versatile carrying options, users can hold it in hand, attach it to a bag, or wear it directly on the body. The accessory expands to accommodate phones, AirPods, and other everyday essentials.
The design philosophy draws from A-POC (A Piece of Cloth), an innovative manufacturing system established by Issey Miyake in 1998 that creates garments from a single piece of 3D-knit fabric. Miyamae, who now heads A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, a brand launched in 2021 that operates outside traditional fashion seasons, stated that the iPhone Pocket explores “the concept of ‘the joy of wearing iPhone in your own way.’”
Miyamae elaborated in Apple’s announcement, “The design of iPhone Pocket speaks to the bond between iPhone and its user, while keeping in mind that an Apple product is designed to be universal in aesthetic and versatile in use. The simplicity of its design echoes what we practice at ISSEY MIYAKE , the idea of leaving things less defined to allow for possibilities and personal interpretation.”
Two versions of the accessory are offered. The short strap design is priced at $149.95 and comes in eight colors: lemon, mandarin, purple, pink, peacock, sapphire, cinnamon, and black. The long strap design retails for $229.95 and is available in sapphire, cinnamon, and black. Both styles are manufactured in Japan and work with any iPhone model. Molly Anderson, Apple’s Vice President of Industrial Design, noted that the “color palette of iPhone Pocket was intentionally designed to mix and match with all our iPhone models and colors.”
This collaboration holds special meaning due to the historical ties between Apple, Issey Miyake, and Steve Jobs. In the 1980s, Jobs visited Sony and admired the company uniforms Miyake had designed, a taupe nylon jacket with removable sleeves that could be converted into a vest. Jobs approached Miyake to create a similar vest for Apple employees, but the idea was poorly received when he presented it internally.
Nevertheless, the encounter sparked a friendship between the two visionaries. Jobs later recounted, “So I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, and he made me like a hundred of them,” telling his biographer Walter Isaacson it was enough to last his lifetime. Those iconic black mock turtlenecks, often paired with Levi’s 501 jeans, became Jobs’ personal uniform and contributed to his globally recognizable image.
Issey Miyake, born in Hiroshima in 1938, founded the Miyake Design Studio in 1970 after studying graphic design at Tama Art University and training in Paris under designers Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy. He gained renown for his technology-driven clothing designs and pioneered a distinctive pleating technique, leading to the launch of his Pleats Please line in 1993. Miyake stepped back from designing the main ISSEY MIYAKE collections in 1999 to focus on research, later establishing the Miyake Issey Foundation in 2004 to support emerging creatives. He passed away in August 2022 at the age of 84 after a battle with liver cancer.
(Source: Fortune)
