Fashion is weird. So is brand loyalty, now I come to think of it, which Apple seems to be testing with its latest creation, the iPhone Pocket. Designed in collaboration with Issey Miyake, a brand based around the works of a late fashion designer of the same name, the iPhone Pocket is, Apple proudly declares, "born from the idea of creating an additional pocket".
Revolutionary stuff. It's also been inspired by the concept of "a piece of cloth", which is fairly obvious to see, as that's exactly what it looks like (via BBC News). The long strap version has also been priced at $230, a figure that has drawn much ire and ridicule from the online community. Quelle surprise, etc, etc.
The iPhone pocket everybody. $230 for a cut up sock. Apple people will pay anything for anything as long as it’s Apple. pic.twitter.com/wRtQKBzoqtNovember 12, 2025
Some have made the comparison with wearing a sock around your neck, which in and of itself feels like something you might see on a runway near you as a bold new imagining of the paradigm of footwear. Or something.
Of course, Apple and Issey Miyake have been keen to point out that it's not just a piece of cloth. It's made of various colours of textured material that echo "the everyday utility of the brand's iconic pleated clothing", and it's been split open to create that much-needed extra pocket, with a stretchy quality that allows a single iPhone to be nestled inside, as well as "all pocketable items".
It looks a bit like carrying your phone around like a newborn in a sling, which, given some of the rapt praise bestowed upon products like the iPhone 16, feels somewhat appropriate. Many Apple fans love to show off their latest purchases like objects of great importance, and far from tucking the iPhone away, wearing it in a brightly-coloured and bleedingly-obvious carrying case strikes as just another way of declaring to the world that you too are an Apple-enjoyer.
The new Apple iPhone Pocket! 😂🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/bZM59K0MAdNovember 11, 2025
Or perhaps someone who enjoys the films of Sacha Baron Cohen, one of the two. There are also security concerns to think about, as while the iPhone Pocket may well speak to "the bond between [an] iPhone and its user", that bond may soon be broken by an opportunist who spots one of the brighter versions (my favourite is the neon yellow "lemon") as you walk through your local park. Just a thought.
Still, it's said that high fashion is art, and good art provokes conversation. The iPhone Pocket appears to be doing just that, and is already being seen by some as a litmus test towards the brand loyalty of Apple fans. Sure, you may live the Apple aesthetic, but is strapping a mankini-like sock around your neck a step too far? Answers on the back of a postcard, please.
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