Apple, the first public company to be worth $1 trillion, has come a long way since college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded it in 1976 with a vision to make computers more accessible and small enough to have in homes and offices.
Clearly business visionaries the pair set about changing the way people viewed the humble computer and then mobile technology by focusing on the design element of the products rather than merely their functionality. They understood that to drive consumer want and build a differentiated brand, they had to attribute desirability to products in a category (tech) that had previously competed on functionality alone, for them this was achieved by largely focusing on design.
Their focus on developing stylish and identifiable products which drove consumer want based on aesthetics and personal style aspirations took design thinking and design innovation to new levels. They even went as far as to drop the word computer from their marketing and branding back in 2007 as they focused on building their design-led brand...the term computer having never really been synonymous with style!
Whilst Apple is undoubtedly one of the most successful technology companies ever, to my mind, it can also teach many in the fashion industry a thing or two—fashion revolves around predicting what people want and designing and stocking these products before consumers even realize they want them.
Apple has remained at the forefront in terms of technology trends but, as someone who can remember a time before tech became trendy, their real strength is that their product design is fashion-forward and aspirational appealing to different customer segments with differentiated technology products which allow for personalization to reflect consumers' aesthetic affiliations.
Don’t believe me–the proof is in the way Apple positioned and marketed their products back in 2014, when Apple launched their smartwatch at an exclusive launch event. It wasn’t just the usual technology journalists that were invited there were also a number of high-profile fashion editors attending from the very epicenter of the fashion industry, publications such as Vogue.
Amongst tech analysts Apple faced some criticism that their smartwatches didn’t have greater functionality than other products already available–but that didn’t matter to consumers as what they did have was design desirability–they looked more like watches than tech gadgets, Apple certainly benefited from lots of positive fashion and lifestyle coverage which has driven their mass-market appeal. Since then there have even been Apple launch events purely to launch new watch bands and bracelets and the rose gold-colored Macbook hardly tech innovations. For their watch lines, Apple has also focused on forging relationships with companies such as Hermes and Nike, both held in high accord by the fashion crowd.
Apple has long blurred the lines between fashion and tech combining expertise from both industries as they continued to grow, in recent years senior hires from the fashion industry have included: Paul Deneve, CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry chief Angela Ahrendts and Lance Lin, previously fashion editor at GQ, as senior PR manager.
Apple at their prime delivered a product development masterclass. They developed products and a brand that was stylish, desirable and was one step ahead of consumer wants, but what now that there is more competition and consumers have grown more demanding?
The latest financial results showed a 5% decline in the second quarter, not something Apple has been accustomed to in recent years, and a clear indicator that their products are losing that all-important fashion item desire.
Whilst new releases used to see lines around the block, in locations all around the world, this is now no longer the case. Whilst the iPad Pro and AirPods are clearly great products, can they really be considered fashion items in the same way that the original iPhone was, or the Apple Watch?
Their adoption might be strong but they haven’t got that same "cool" factor that saw iPhones mentioned in rap songs, not that long ago.
It seems Apple may have lost their design and thus fashion focus–with the departure of Angela Ahrendts, senior vice president retail, and the shock news that Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer is leaving the business after 30 years, what direction will Apple take next—only time will tell. But its tech fashion crown? That seems to be slipping.
