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Jony Ive & Tim Cook discuss the intersection of fashion and tech in new Vogue interview

It was revealed last October that Apple would be sponsoring this year’s Met Gala, with Jony Ive serving as a co-chair of the event. Now, Ive, along with Tim Cook, has sat down for an interview with fashion outlet Vogue. In the interview, the two Apple executives discuss the company’s recent foray into the fashion industry, the spaceship-like Campus 2, and more.

Cook likens Apple’s Campus 2 to the design of any of its products, as does the project’s architect Norman Foster. “The building is an echo of the ethos of Apple, which designs artifacts that, though they fulfill all sorts of functions, exist abstractly in their own right,” Foster explained while noting that the idea originated back in 2009 from a series of “rather amusing phone conversations” with Steve Jobs.

“There was from the outset a concern with breaking down barriers,” Foster explained. “The sheets of glass are so long, so clear, that you don’t feel that there is a wall between you and the landscape. And at the same time the building is an echo of the ethos of Apple, which designs artifacts that, though they fulfill all sorts of functions, exist abstractly in their own right.”

Cook also compares the design of its products and upcoming new headquarters to fashion, explaining that design is just as important to its products as it is in fashion. “In what we do, design is crucial, as it is in fashion,” he said.

Jony Ive went on to explain how much more personal technology has become over recent years, both relating to the iPhone and Apple Watch. The personalization of technology really started with the release of the first iPhone in 2007, Ive noted, explaining that prior to it, everything was too big to carry around.

 “Nine years ago, the iPhone didn’t exist, and the most personal product we had was too big to carry around with you,” he explains. “The technology is at last starting to enable something that was the dream of the company from the very beginning—to make technology personal. So personal that you can wear it.”

Apple deepened its ties in the fashion industry last year by releasing the Apple Watch Hermès, which recently expanded in availability to the Apple Online Store. “That watch is the result of two temperamentally, philosophically aligned companies deciding to make something together,” Ive stated.

Finally, Ive touched on his role as co-chair of the upcoming Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which will be themed around “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.” Apple is sponsoring the event, while Ive is serving as a co-chair alongside Taylor Swift.

“Both the hand and the machine can produce things with exquisite care or with no care at all. But it’s important to remember that what was seen at one time as the most sophisticated technology eventually becomes tradition. There was a time when even the metal needle would have been seen as shocking and profoundly new,” Ive said.

Ive sat down with a pair of news outlets following the announcement of the Met Gala, explaining Apple’s motivation to sponsor the event. Apple has been deepening its interest in the fashion industry since the launch of the Apple Watch. The device was available at launch from a variety of high-end fashion retail locations, while it was also showcased by Vogue two separate times. The 2016 Met Gala will take place on May 2nd.

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Comments

  1. Jake Becker - 9 years ago

    Wow, Vogue. That was a mini-feature, not an “interview”. I learned approximately nothing.

    • Chris Cooper (@clcooper) - 9 years ago

      We at least learned that Foster knows “Corporate-speak”.. I mean, can you decipher what his statement actually means: “The building is an echo of the ethos of Apple, which designs artifacts that, though they fulfill all sorts of functions, exist abstractly in their own right,” Good grief, its like he pulled some words right from this site: http://www.atrixnet.com/bs-generator.html

    • Chris Cooper (@clcooper) - 9 years ago

      We did learn that Foster knows his corporate-speak: “The building is an echo of the ethos of Apple, which designs artifacts that, though they fulfill all sorts of functions, exist abstractly in their own right,” Just imagine this being said in Sir Jony Ive’s voice during an Apple event, lol..

  2. Jamie Gruver - 9 years ago

    Magazine should be called “Vague” after that “article”.

    • Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

      consider the audience. They are focused on fashion and esthetic design rather than technology. If you make it anything more in depth with tech, their eyes glaze over.

  3. Robin van Overdijk - 9 years ago

    Funny how the pictures in the article have been taken in march of 2016… did they use the iTimetravel??

    • AeronPeryton - 9 years ago

      Yeah, I also thought it was weird that Jony was getting out of his Apple Car LUXURY to go into Campus 3 in one of the photos.

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is the editor-in-chief of 9to5Mac, overseeing the entire site’s operations. He also hosts the 9to5Mac Daily and 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcasts.

You can send tips, questions, and typos to chance@9to5mac.com.

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