Designers took a bite out of Apple Watch, which was announced during New York Fashion Week. Despite jetting a pack of tastemakers including Olivier Zahm and Derek Blasberg to an overblown San Francisco press conference where U2 performed, many insiders weren’t sold on the tech behemoth’s new watch.
When asked how he’d improve the timepiece, which comes with straps in stainless steel, 18-karat gold, leather and other materials, Laurence Chandler of Rochambeau said he’d make the band “intangible and invisible so the watch just falls off and you can go about your normal, pre-Apple Watch life.”
But other designers were more upbeat about the ticker, offering colorful ways they’d tweak it. “A watch band made of edible chocolate would be divine,” said Daniel Silver of Duckie Brown. “That or navy crocodile.” Lucio Castro said his version of the Apple Watch would “elegantly clip on any previous favorite bracelet, keeping the wristwatch both personal and techie.”
Menswear designer David Hart said he’d pair the Apple Watch with “bands made from our great tie fabrics, especially our Static print from the fall collection. It lends itself so well to the advancements in technology and design.”
But watch purists were just not having it. Jean-Claude Biver, chief of LVMH’s watch division, told a German newspaper the watch had “no sex appeal.” “It’s too feminine and looks too much like the smart watches already on the market,” Biver told Germany’s Die Welt. “To be totally honest, it looks like it was designed by a student in their first trimester.”