Apple and High-fashion?

There’s no one more qualified to integrate technology and fashion than the quintessential designer of the tech industry.

The news of Apple having hired the CEO of Yves Saint Laurent- Paul Deneve, has been all pervasive this week, with rumors and speculations abounding in social media – will he be heading the iWatch project? Is he filling the now-vacant Retail Head role? What is this Special Projects position?

The explanation that most makes sense is that Apple is targeting the wearables technology market and who better than the former CEO of a luxury fashion brand to align the trending high fashion with high technology?

During an interview at the D11 conference a couple months back, Apple CEO Tim Cook called wearable computing as profoundly interesting.

…the idea of wearing something on the wrist is natural. However, you have to convince people it's so incredible you want to wear it. Most young people don't wear watches, so it would be the company's job to make them appealing………I would say the ones that do more than one thing would be more successful. There are lots of things to solve, it's ripe for exploration.

Wearable technology has been gaining market share in the fitness and wellness, healthcare and industrial sectors. Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour have leveraged wearables to enhance their fitness business. Devices like Jawbone Up(Wrist Band) and Shine(metal disc attached to shirt collar) track workouts, daily movement and sleep habits and communicate seamlessly with the smart phone, tablet or computer to provide a full report of your physical well-being.

According to a recent Credit Suisse report, the wearable technology market has hit an inflection point and the market currently concentrated in health and fitness(estimated to be worth between $3 billion to $5 billion), will be reaching $30-$50 billion over the next 3-5 years.

Coming back to Apple - with other companies catching up to it in the smartphones market, if getting into the high fashion/wearable technology market is a future direction for Apple to gain back its niche status, then I think it is a great one.

So, what do you think is the significance of Apple's latest hire? Do you anticipate Apple coming up with wearable high fashion products in the future?

Jewellery with calling features, clothes attached with fitness trackers, Belts with safety alarms......Should we get ready to see Apple products walking down the Runway?