The Black Turtleneck: Steve Jobs' Signature Style Origin

who made steve jobs black turtleneck

Steve Jobs' iconic black turtleneck was designed by Japanese designer Issey Miyake. Jobs approached Miyake to design a uniform for Apple employees, but the idea was rejected by staff. Instead, Miyake designed a black turtleneck for Jobs himself, which became his signature style.

Characteristics Values
Designer Issey Miyake
Type of clothing Turtleneck
Colour Black
Material Fabric that expands vertically with hundreds of small folds
First worn by Steve Jobs 1991

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Steve Jobs' turtleneck was designed by Issey Miyake

Steve Jobs' iconic black turtleneck was designed by Issey Miyake. The story of how the tech entrepreneur came to adopt the garment as part of his personal uniform began with a trip to Japan in the 1980s. During this visit, Jobs toured the factories of Sony, where he observed that all workers wore matching uniforms. Intrigued, he asked Sony Chairman Akio Morita about it, who explained that, following World War II, companies like Sony gave workers clothes to wear each day. Jobs wanted to replicate this sense of bonding at Apple.

Jobs initially approached Miyake, a Japanese designer, to create a vest for Apple employees to wear as a uniform. However, the idea was poorly received by Apple employees, who disliked the idea of a corporate uniform. Rather than giving up on the idea of a uniform, Jobs decided to create a uniform for himself. He asked Miyake to make him some of his black turtlenecks, and Miyake obliged, making him about a hundred. This solo black turtleneck became Jobs' signature style, defining his look for over a decade.

Miyake was a pioneer in the fashion industry, being the first foreign designer to showcase at Paris Fashion Week in 1974 and among the first to collaborate with artists. He was also an early proponent of "comfort dressing". However, it was his understanding and appreciation of technology and its potential to create new, functional garments that set him apart. Miyake was the original champion of fashion tech, experimenting with heat presses, industrial knitting machines, and unique pleating techniques to create innovative, practical, and fun garments.

Miyake's black turtleneck for Jobs was not just a fashion choice but a testament to the designer's ability to blend technology and aesthetics. The turtleneck's simple, classic design and the fact that Jobs wore it as a uniform speak to the designer's forward-thinking vision and the garment's enduring appeal.

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Jobs bought two dozen turtlenecks each year

Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, was known for his black turtleneck, which was designed by Japanese designer Issey Miyake. Jobs wore the black turtleneck as part of his personal uniform, which also included Levi's 501 classic-fit jeans.

Jobs initially approached Miyake to design a uniform for all Apple employees. However, this idea was not well-received by Apple employees, who disliked the concept of a corporate uniform. Despite this setback, Jobs and Miyake maintained a friendship, and Jobs continued to admire Miyake's work.

Jobs is said to have purchased two dozen turtlenecks from Miyake each year. In an excerpt from Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs, Jobs is quoted as saying:

> "So I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, and he made me like a hundred of them."

Jobs further remarked that this supply was enough to last him the rest of his life. The black turtleneck became a defining part of Jobs' signature style, and he is often seen wearing it in photographs and public appearances.

Miyake, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 84, was known for his innovative and technology-driven clothing designs. He had previously worked with Sony to create a jacket for their employees, which featured removable sleeves that could be unzipped to convert it into a vest. This design inspired Jobs' initial interest in creating a uniform for Apple employees.

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Miyake was the first foreign designer at Paris Fashion Week

Issey Miyake, the designer behind Steve Jobs' iconic black turtleneck, was the first foreign designer to showcase at Paris Fashion Week in April 1974. Miyake, a pioneer in the fashion industry, was also among the first designers to collaborate with artists and an early proponent of "comfort dressing". He was known for his understanding and appreciation of technology and how it could be harnessed to create new and aesthetically pleasing utilities.

Miyake's French education in fashion, which included studying traditional haute couture techniques and design, led him to New York, where he worked with Hubert de Givenchy. He returned to his home country of Japan in 1970 and founded the Miyake Design Office. Three years later, in 1973, he first participated in Paris Fashion Week, and by the 1980s, he was an established member of the Parisian fashion industry, working alongside Kawakyu and Rei Kawakubo. Miyake's unique approach to fashion, with its roots in the peculiar aesthetics associated with Japanese designers, made him one of the most influential designers in Europe.

Miyake's signature style centred on the construction of the material. He challenged traditional European production methods by using fabrics to wrap the body, allowing the body to interpret the silhouette of the clothes through wrinkles and folds. This approach was famously showcased in his iconic ""A Piece of Cloth" collection, also known as A-POC, which debuted in 1990. The collection featured garments created from a single piece of cloth, eliminating manufacturing waste. Miyake's innovative use of the heat press allowed him to create fabric two to three times larger than normal, which was then pressed and fed into an industrial machine to create knife-edge pleats. These pleated garments, which never wrinkled or required complicated fastenings, became a staple of the Miyake brand and are still recognised today.

In addition to his technical prowess, Miyake was also a visionary who understood the potential of merging fashion with technology. Before the advent of wearables and connected jackets, Miyake was already pushing the boundaries of material innovation to bridge the past and the future. He is considered the original champion of fashion tech, experimenting with continuous pieces of thread fed into industrial knitting machines to create seamless garments. Miyake's forward-thinking and artistic approach to fashion, combined with his technical skills, solidified his place in the industry and made him a trailblazer at Paris Fashion Week.

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Miyake was a proponent of 'comfort dressing'

Issey Miyake, the designer behind Steve Jobs's iconic black turtleneck, was a proponent of comfort dressing long before the term was even coined. Miyake's design philosophy centred around creating "clothes for living" that transcended the boundaries of fashion. He believed in designing clothes that were not only conceptual but also practical and comfortable, catering to diverse identities across gender, size, and age.

Miyake's commitment to comfort dressing was evident in his signature pleats, which he developed in the late 1980s. He pioneered a novel technique of pleating clothes after they had been cut, using a heat press to shrink them to the desired size and shape. This innovation led to the launch of his Pleats Please line in 1993, which offered garments that were both practical and fun, with a unique ability to never wrinkle, fall flat, or require complicated fastenings. Miyake's focus on comfort extended beyond the physical attributes of his designs; he also sought to liberate the body from constricting clothing shapes and deconstruct gender codes in fashion.

Miyake's democratic design ethos was a driving force behind his creations. Having witnessed the French May 1968 student protests, he became inspired to create clothing for "the many rather than the few." This motivation led him to establish the Miyake Design Studio in Tokyo in 1970, where he developed his signature pleating technique and other groundbreaking concepts. Miyake's designs, such as his tube-knitted A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) line, exemplified his commitment to minimising waste and maximising freedom for the wearer.

Miyake's approach to design was deeply influenced by his life experiences, including the loss of his mother to radiation sickness following the atomic bombing of his birthplace, Hiroshima. This tragedy led him to embrace a philosophy of "think of things that can be created, not destroyed," which guided his exploration of clothing design as a means of transcending destruction. Miyake's work in fashion extended beyond mere aesthetics; it was a powerful medium for his humanitarian vision and a testament to his belief in the transformative power of clothing.

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Miyake retired the turtleneck from the market in 2011

Steve Jobs' iconic black turtleneck was designed by Japanese designer Issey Miyake. Miyake, who died in 2022 at the age of 84, was known for his innovative approach to fashion, blending technology and aesthetics to create new and functional designs.

Miyake's unique understanding of technology and its potential to enhance fashion was evident in his work. He pioneered the use of the heat press to create wrinkle-free, pleated garments and was an early advocate of "comfort dressing". This blend of fashion and functionality resonated with Jobs, who sought to foster a sense of corporate bonding and identity through clothing.

Jobs initially approached Miyake to design a vest for Apple employees, inspired by Sony's corporate uniform. However, the idea was met with resistance from Apple employees, who disliked the concept of a uniform. As a result, Jobs decided to adopt a uniform of his own, consisting of Levi's 501 jeans, New Balance 991 sneakers, and Miyake's black turtleneck.

In 2017, Miyake protégé Yusuke Takahashi released a revised version of the turtleneck, the Semi-Dull T, featuring a trimmer silhouette and higher shoulders. This release kept the spirit of Miyake's original design alive while offering a contemporary twist.

The story of the Steve Jobs turtleneck highlights the intersection of fashion and technology, a testament to Miyake's forward-thinking approach to design and his lasting impact on the fashion industry.

Frequently asked questions

Japanese designer Issey Miyake made Steve Jobs' black turtleneck.

Steve Jobs was inspired by a trip to Japan in the 1980s where he noticed that all workers in the factories were wearing matching uniforms. He wanted to create a similar sense of bonding for Apple employees.

Yes, he had about a hundred of them.

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