The Unexpected Love Story Between Your iPhone and a Japanese Design Icon
There’s something almost poetic about watching someone fish their phone out of their bag. The way they dig through receipts, loose change, and half-empty packs of gum. The small panic when their fingers don’t immediately find that familiar glass rectangle. We’ve all been there, haven’t we?
Now imagine if your phone had its own little outfit. Not a case. Not a bag. Something in between. Something that feels like it was knitted by someone who actually understands how we live with our phones—always reaching for them, always needing them close, but never quite knowing where to put them.
That’s exactly what happened when two companies that rarely need introduction—Apple and ISSEY MIYAKE—decided to create something together. The result is called iPhone Pocket, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: a pocket for your iPhone. But like most things that sound simple, there’s more to the story.
A Piece of Cloth with a Purpose
The idea started with something basic. Fabric. Just a piece of cloth, really. But in the hands of ISSEY MIYAKE’s designers in Japan, that piece of cloth became something else entirely. Using a special 3D-knitting technique, they created what looks like a soft, ribbed sleeve that can stretch and breathe and hold your phone like a gentle hug.
Yoshiyuki Miyamae, one of the design directors at MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO, explains it better than I can. He talks about “the joy of wearing iPhone in your own way.” It’s the kind of phrase that sounds fancy but actually means something real. Because isn’t that what we all want? To carry our stuff in a way that feels like us?
The iPhone Pocket isn’t stiff or rigid. It expands. When you slip your phone inside, the ribbed texture stretches just enough. You can still see your screen through the open weave when you need to check a message. It’s like those famous ISSEY MIYAKE pleats that made the fashion house famous—flexible, practical, beautiful all at once.
More Than Just a Phone Holder
Here’s where it gets interesting. This isn’t just for your iPhone. Sure, that’s what it’s called. But the designers made it to hold whatever fits in your pocket. Your AirPods. Your credit card. That lip balm you always lose. The things we actually carry every day, not the things we think we should carry.
And you can wear it however you want. Tie it to your bag if you’re the organized type. Wear it across your body if you like to keep your hands free. Hold it like a small clutch if you’re heading out for the evening. There are no rules. That’s the point.
Molly Anderson, Apple’s vice president of Industrial Design, calls it “a clever extra pocket.” And she’s right. In a world where women’s clothing often comes with fake pockets or no pockets at all, and men’s pockets can’t quite fit the ever-growing size of smartphones, an extra pocket isn’t just clever. It’s necessary.
Colors That Tell Stories
The design team didn’t stop at function. iPhone Pocket comes in eleven colors total. Eight if you choose the short strap version: lemon, mandarin, purple, pink, peacock, sapphire, cinnamon, and black. Three if you go for the long strap: sapphire, cinnamon, and black.
These aren’t random colors. They were chosen to mix and match with every iPhone color Apple makes. Want your peacock blue pocket with your pink iPhone? Go ahead. Prefer matching your black iPhone with a pop of mandarin orange? That works too. It’s like picking out an outfit, but for your phone.
The short strap version costs $149.95, and the long strap goes for $229.95. Some people will read those numbers and think it’s too much for a phone holder. Others will see it as a piece of design history—a collaboration between two companies that changed how we think about objects we use every day.
Where to Find It
Starting November 14, you can buy iPhone Pocket at select Apple Stores around the world. Not every store, though. Only the special ones. The flagship locations in cities like New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Milan. The stores that feel more like galleries than shops.
There’s Apple SoHo in New York City. Apple Ginza in Tokyo. Apple Marché Saint-Germain in Paris. Apple Regent Street in London. Each of these stores will have specialists who can help you pick colors, try different lengths, figure out how to wear it.
You can also order it online from apple.com, but only if you live in France, Greater China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, or the US. It’s a special-edition release, which is another way of saying: this might not last forever.
What It Really Means
At its heart, iPhone Pocket is about something we don’t talk about enough: how we carry the things we love. Our phones aren’t just tools anymore. They’re our cameras, our wallets, our connection to everyone we care about. They deserve more than being shoved into a pocket or left loose in a bag.
ISSEY MIYAKE has always been about creating clothing that moves with people, not against them. Apple has always been about making technology that feels human. Put them together, and you get something that makes sense in a way that surprises you.
It’s just a pocket. But it’s also a small revolution in how we think about carrying our digital lives. And sometimes, that’s enough.
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