Apple Watch makes its fashion debut on the cover of Vogue China

As supermodel Liu Wen appears on the cover of Vogue China wearing the Apple Watch, the Guardian’s fashion editor, Jess Cartner-Morley, tracks five key moments in Apple’s meticulously planned fashion strategy

Vogue China November 2014, on sale 12th October Photograph: Conde Nas

1. The watch is on the cover of Vogue China

On the cover of the new issue, out on Monday, Liu Wen – catwalk star, Victoria’s Secret Angel, Estee Lauder spokesmodel – is wearing a Celine striped knit tunic and skirt and 18-carat yellow gold Apple watch with a red leather strap. Chinese Vogue is a new addition to the venerable tradition of fashion magazines, but one that has had a huge impact in a very short time. The Chinese edition of Vogue is not yet 10 years old, and yet its readership of 1.3 million is bigger than that of the UK (where Vogue is 98 years old) and Italy (39). By making a splash in China, is Apple sending a message that it could have the same impact on the luxury market there?

2. Apple has engaged with fashion royalty – the people who can’t be bought

Product placement is everywhere in fashion. The catwalks of every city are sprinkled with gadgets, mineral waters, crystals and furs that are there because their producers have paid to get them associated with those names. Apple made a point of being associated, instead, with people who can’t be bought, and therefore established the connection as real. The designer Azzedine Alaia hosted a Paris dinner for Apple Watch because he is best friends with Marc Newson, who has worked with Apple design guru Jony Ive on the watch. Karl Lagerfeld came to the Paris breakfast launch of the Apple watch because he is a huge Apple fan. (his cat Choupette has her own iPad.) Anna Wintour came because she’s a huge fan of Ive’s work. A profile of Ive in the new issue of American Vogue details his British tailor, Thomas Mahon (who also makes suits for Prince Charles), his collection of cars (Aston Martin, Bentley, Land Rover) and his London hotel of choice (Claridges).

#AppleWatch with @karllagerfeld, Anna Wintour, Jony Ive & Marc Newson #colette #karllagerfeld #annawintour #jonyive #marcnewson Photograph: colette/Instagram

3. A behind-the-scenes team of fashion’s power players has been involved for a long time

Not just Marc Newson, product designer and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world (as well as being married to stylist Charlotte Stockdale) but fashion strategist Anita Borzyszkowska, a former global head of PR for Gap and a best-dressed front rower in London, New York and Paris. Borzyszkowska was present at the Paris events alongside Paul Deneve, the man who put Hedi Slimane in charge at Saint Laurent and was then poached to Apple last year.

4. Colette, the Paris fashion boutique that embraced sneaker culture, hosted the first viewing of the Apple watch outside Cupertino

A luxury consumer will buy a Nike trainer because it is best in its class, and the thinking is they will buy an Apple watch for the same reason. Style and functionality have to be seamless. But Ive, a serious collector of watches, has respected the traditions of the form: for instance, there is a Milanese mesh stainless steel strap, albeit the first-ever magnetic one.

5. The timing is perfect

Ha ha. Obviously, a watch has to get the timing right. Plugging into the American energy of New York fashion week, with the Cupertino launch, and then hosting a virtual takeover of the penultimate day of Paris fashion work, was spot-on.

via