Following the Apple sponsored Met Gala last night, Apple design chief Jony Ive sat down to discuss the Gala, the intersection of fashion and technology, and more.
As part of an interview with Business of Fashion (via 9to5Mac), Ive spoke of the calm that he experienced while walking through the "Manus x Machina" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
There was a calm and serenity and gentleness to the overall exhibition that I thought provided a wonderful context to actually consider and think about the pieces that constituted the show. In our work, we've always tried to design in a way where you're not aware of the problems that we've had to solve. That's the job of the designer: to solve problems and explore, but not really drag you through what all the problems were. I was irritated to have to leave [the exhibit].
Ive then went on to discuss Apple's product design, noting the company's particularly personal approach to each of its offerings.
I think we have always had a very clear and a very singular approach to how we design products that are more familiar to people, more established in terms of product categories. I think it's very hard to have that same clarity and singularity when you're not absolutely confident in your subject matter.
As for the Apple Watch, which is seen as Apple's first concerted foray into the world of fashion, Ive was mum on specifics concerning its future. However, the designer did compare the Watch to the original iPhone, hinting that it may see similar rapid iteration in future versions.
"It's quite interesting that if you look back at the first generation of the iPod or the Phone — what happens in the next two, three, four years is dramatic. You'd be very surprised about some of the things you would absolutely assume that the first Phone did and it didn't have," he said. "Of course, this is a new category for us, one that we think is such a natural one because we think in a very authentic way. It's not us being opportunistic in the way our competitors are. It's not us thinking, 'Well, this is a growing category.' That couldn't be further from the truth."
Ive, who delivered opening remarks at the Met Gala as well, was also joined at the event by Apple CEO Tim Cook and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
