The identifiable black turtleneck jumpers donned by the late Steve Jobs were actually nicked from Sony’s headquarters.
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Before passing, Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson he first noticed the style during a tour of Sony’s HQ in Japan in the 1980’s. He was taken by Sony’s Issey Miyake designed uniforms and decided to approach designer, hoping he’d create a similar uniform for Apple staff.
“I came back [to the US] with some samples and told everyone it would great if we would all wear these vests,” Jobs said to Isaacson. “Oh man, did I get booed off the stage. Everybody hated the idea.”
Although the staff uniform was a no-go, Jobs became friends with Miyake. A few years later he decided to approach Miyake for help adopt a signature outfit to wear to work, approaching Miyake for creative help.
“I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, and he made me 100 of them,” Jobs told Isaacson, pointing to the jumpers in his wardrobe.
“I have enough to last for the rest of my life,” he said.
He sure did.
Despite Miyake’s influence on jobs, a Minnesota clothing manufacturer tried to cash in by claiming to be the source of the turtlenecks.
Source: The Independent, UK
