Apple CEO Tim Cook desperately needs a fashion makeover

“Is it time for Tim Cook to tuck in his shirt?” Vanessa Friedman writes for The New York Times. “Every time I see the Apple chief executive take the stage, as he probably will on Thursday at yet another exciting new product introduction, I can’t help wondering.”

“Much has been made, after all, of Apple’s recent cozying up to the fashion world: its supersecret unveiling of its watch to a few carefully chosen magazine editors last month; said watch’s introduction during New York Fashion Week; the pop-up display and dinners held in its honor during Paris Fashion Week; and its starring appearance on the cover of China Vogue’s November issue, attractively accessorized with a Céline dress and the model Liu Wen,” Friedman writes. “But as we enter the age of the wearable, might it not behoove the leader of such a brand to look the part? This is not a flippant question.”

“Unlike Mr. Jobs, whose look referenced a specific design language (Issey Miyake cool), Mr. Cook has a style that is more like the fashion of no fashion, to borrow an idea from George W. S. Trow. For a company that clearly wants to influence fashion, that is a confusing message to send,” Friedman writes. “t is true that Mr. Cook does seem to have developed a signature personal style… To wit: a large, slightly wrinkled, untucked button-down shirt. Though the color may change (the shirt has appeared in varying shades of black, blue and even lavender), the form remains the same.”

“As tech gets more and more into fashion, as wearables become the Next Big Thing, perhaps it is the moment to reconsider ye olde assumptions. And should not Mr. Cook take the lead? If Apple really wants to own the wearable space, should he not be the chief executive who breaks the stereotype? Is there not real opportunity to seize the high(er) ground here and change an antiquated culture?” Friedman writes. “Certainly, Jonathan Ive, the co-creator of the Apple watch, is not afraid to discuss his style evolution. In Paris to introduce his product, he was happily showing off a denim suit jacket made by his regular tailor, whom he called ‘Tom the tailor,’ who does all of Mr. Ive’s tailoring. Tom, Mr. Ive said, used to work at the Savile Row name Anderson & Sheppard before moving out to the Lake District, and now the two collaborate on Mr. Ive’s wardrobe.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Tim is no Marissa Mayer, that’s for sure.

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