Apple today introduced a fashionable new alternative to the old phone sling, with the introduction of the iPhone Pocket made in collaboration with Japanese designer Issey Miyake. The internet is already calling it the iPhone Sock, and the moniker is apt: this is a 100 percent soft, 3D-knit pouch that stretches around an iPhone (and three-ish credit cards) to be worn like swag. Sometimes the most striking fashion statements are purely practical. It may be a left-field accessory for Apple, but it is one that vacuums up through space-time at the intersection of tech, craft and fashion where both brands have spent time.
What Apple and Issey Miyake Made Together
The product is officially called iPhone Pocket, and employs an open-knit, ribbed construction that stretches tightly around an iPhone while allowing the display to be visible through the fabric. It comes in two strap lengths — short and crossbody-long (at $149.95 and $229.95, respectively). The short version is available in eight hues, the long in three — all in a playful palette reflecting the brand’s love of bright tones.
Modeled after Issey Miyake’s A-POC philosophy of “a piece of cloth” designed in three dimensions, by which a textile is constructed with almost no seams and waste. In fashion production, whole-garment or 3D knitwear can cut offcut waste relative to traditional cut-and-sew methods — a technique championed by Japanese knit innovators and revered by design institutions from MoMA to the Design Museum. What you end up with is a pouch that’s tactile, flexible and more thought-out than the average phone case-and-lanyard combo.
Why This Accessory Exists Now for iPhone Users
Phone slings, micro-bags — they’ve proliferated on the runways and on sidewalks alike, as street-style staples from Jacquemus and Telfar to luxury houses normalize hands-free, device-centric carry. Apple has been inching into that space with straps and cases, and this edition mines a design house known for technical textiles. Adding a fashion-first carrier to the iPhone ecosystem does make strategic sense: Apple’s Wearables, Home and Accessories category accounted for approximately $39.8B in revenue in Apple FY2023, according to its annual filing, which indicated accessories are far more than just afterthoughts.
Early demand looks brisk. Several colorways appeared to be sold out not long after they were launched on the online Apple Store, and social feeds overflowed with first-look videos, unboxing clips and plenty of jokes about do-it-yourselfing the concept by using a real sock. That chatter is standard-issue for designer drops — scarcity and a distinctive silhouette combine to create instant recognizability, and often, resale buzz.
Pricing and Value for the New iPhone Pocket
And at $149.95 for short and $229.95 for long, the iPhone Sock isn’t going after budget shoppers. But as far as designer accessories go, it falls within a common range. Apple’s longtime partnership with Hermès has established a standard for high-end Apple Watch straps, and Issey Miyake’s own accessories — the pleated lines and the geometric carryalls included — regularly go for similar prices. It’s your decision, bro. It becomes less “Is it a case?” and more “Is this a wearable?”
There’s also a tongue-in-cheek echo of Apple’s past: in 2004, the company sold iPod Socks, a six-pack run in colorful cotton that became something of a cult collectible. Inflated for inflation and infused with designer pedigree, the iPhone Pocket of today is a much more engineered object, but the nod to Apple’s playful accessory history was hard to miss.
A Nod to a Longstanding Opportunity in Design
But behind the looks and the partnership, there’s also some real connection. Steve Jobs was famously partial to black turtlenecks by Issey Miyake, and Walter Isaacson’s biography describes how in the early years Apple sought a similar Miyake-designed uniform. That substantive plan never cohered, but the respect between two houses did. A knit sling for the machine that defined modern computing is a subtle homage to that common design language — precise, utilitarian and quietly playful.
Early Takeaways and Buying Advice for iPhone Pocket
If you’re thinking of the iPhone Pocket, consider the use cases. The open-knit build expands to accommodate, although case-on thickness differs by model; visit in-store if you wear a bulky case or pack extras like AirPods or a slim cardholder. The short strap serves as a handheld loop or bag wrap; the long strap converts it into a crossbody — a setup favored by many commuters and travelers for security. As with any knit, elastic memory over time comes down to both load and wear, so don’t overstuff if you want the silhouette to hold its shape.
Most interesting, though, is what this represents: a new experimentation by Apple in fashion-forward carry, not only around cases and straps. Anticipate lightning-fast sellouts, rolling restocks and — if the demand remains hot — seasonal color refreshes. Call it iPhone Pocket or iPhone Sock and you have an item with outsized cultural potential, where tech utility meets textile craft — and Apple, yet again, makes the accessory the headline.
