Apple Watch was never designed to be a singular product, according to Jony Ive, but a whole fashionable system in its own right. Not just in a functional sense, either, as part of an Apple tech ecosystem.
In an interview with Mashable’s Christina Warren, Ive points out the form that enriches the Apple Watch function.
“I think we found that by being able to change the strap,” said Ive, “not just change the color but the design — and the designs change profoundly — that we could start to introduce a new look in combination with different watch faces and user interfaces.”
Warren spoke with Ive, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, and Costume Institute Curator Andrew Bolton about technology and Apple’s place in the world of fashion. Apple is sponsoring the 2016 Met Gala and fashion exhibition, called “Manus x Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology.”
Wintour pointed out that Apple’s design work is not about trends; rather, it’s classic.
“I don’t think trend is a word I would ever associate with Jony’s work,” she said.
Both Wintour and Ive think similarly about the connection between form and function in both fashion and technology design. Wintour said that tastemakers in the fashion world must look at both form and function, while Ive pointed out that people will use ugly technology “begrudgingly” and without any relationship to the brand itself.
Costume curator Bolton is excited about 3D printing tech in the fashion industry, but realizes it’s fairly soon in the game to know how it will improve. Instead of printing items of fashion that already exist, like blouses or skirts, Bolton wants designers to use 3D printing to question the foundations of fashion itself.
“At the moment, I don’t think it’s being utilized as well as it should be,” he said.
Finally, Wintour talked about how technology has disrupted the way fashion is consumed, pointing to designers using Instagram and the web as instrumental in encouraging a diversity in fashion and the models who show it off.
“I can’t emphasize enough how technology has changed how the world looks at what we all do,” she told Warren.
Source: Mashable
