Apple are in the process of re-imagining their stores. Head designer Jony Ive told New Yorker magazine that he is collaborating with retail boss Angela Ahrendts on a store revamp, saying “Apple had not, overnight, become an élite-oriented company — and it would sell seventy-five million iPhones in the final quarter of 2014, many of them in China — but I wondered how rational, and pure of purpose, one can make the design of a V.I.P. area. Ive later told me that he had overheard someone saying, ‘I’m not going to buy a watch if I can’t stand on carpet.’”
Ive was the designer of a series of iconic Apple devices including the iPod, iPad, iPhone, iMac and the upcoming Apple Watch. Ahrendts has signed a $73 million deal to help revamp the stores, but it is not yet known when the redesigns will be unveiled.
Englishman Ive is the Senior Vice President of Design at Apple Inc and is in charge of the Industrial Design Group. Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs called him his “spiritual partner at Apple” and he is lauded not only for his Apple work but his influence on design in general. He is the son of a renowned silversmith and his passion for design is said to stem from his love of cars.