Apple's iWatch: It's About Time Tech Got Stylish
The much anticipated announcement of the Apple Watch, released today, has pulled fashion insiders like Fabien Baron, Emmanuelle Alt, and Purple’s Olivier Zahm far away from New York Fashion Week, to a white cube in San Francisco. The Apple Watch is square, has a sapphire glass, detects a heartbeat and comes in several fetching iterations, including two different sizes, stainless, aluminum or 18K gold cases, and six different straps (both rubber and metal bracelet varieties). The retail price starts at $349 and is scheduled to hit the market in early 2015. It is also importantly the only smart watch at the moment compatible with iPhones.
But while Apple is the clearest winner historically in the largely unsatisfying love affair (or mutual fascination) between tech and design, there are other smart watches and tech brands making overtures. A few such specimens debuted amidst the fashion-fauna on their native turf — New York fashion week itself.
The Moto 360, a round black smartwatch from Motorola, was on the runway today at Rodarte. Like the Apple Watch, the Moto 360 also detects heart rate. Already available on the market for $249 and compatible with Android phones, the Moto 360 has voice command, will deliver texts, emails, missed calls, FB updates, calendar prompts, directions and even call the wearer a Lyft. Early reviews cite poor battery life (half a day) on the device.
Perhaps the most precious of all the wearable tech introduced this week is the MICA, “My Intelligent Communication Accessory.” A collaboration between Opening Ceremony and Intel, the MICA is a smart bracelet which combines technology with semi-precious gems and water snakeskin. One is white with tiger’s eye and obsidian; the other black with pearls and lapis. The MICA will deliver texts, meeting alerts, and “functionalities to be revealed at a later date.” A price is not yet listed, but it will be available at select Barneys and Opening Ceremony by holiday 2014.
In ruminating on this tech fashion flirtation, which is clearly heating up, we asked Yves Behar, the designer behind the Jawbone Jambox and a collaborator with Miuccia Prada: “Style is in everything, from fashion to cookware, but it’s been blatantly absent from technology. There is a lot of catching up needed, and most of what is called ‘tech-fashion’ is a bit desperate in my view. Tech companies think ‘style is easy, just sprinkle on top with a couple of celebrities’. Today it looks like Apple came prepared, and is moving into style with style!”