Marc Newson Interview With The London Evening Standard

John Arlidge, interviewing Marc Newson for The London Evening Standard:

Given that this is his first print interview since he formally started his new role, let’s start with the formalities. What’s your job title? ‘I don’t really have one but I work on special projects.’ Is it full-time? ‘It’s about 60 per cent of my time.’ How long will you do it? ‘Indefinitely, I hope.’ Did you work with Steve Jobs before he died? ‘No, but I met him.’ Who earns more, you or Jonathan? ‘I think you can guess that.’ Ive is equal 637th on the latest Sunday Times Rich List, worth £150m.

Is that a British thing, asking so bluntly who earns more? Strikes me as rather uncouth, but maybe that’s my perspective as an American.

What is Newson’s next move? He’s not allowed to say, of course. But the clue is in his job title. Don’t expect a Newson iPhone or iPad: stand by for something more. He’s particularly interested in what technology can bring to fashion. ‘We will start to see more technology embedded in garments — magic woven in. There are some incredible things that are going to happen.’

Another big leap would be a car. Both he and Ive are petrolheads. Each owns several hundred thousand pounds’ worth of mainly classic Aston Martins, Lamborghinis and Bentleys. Newson has designed a concept car for Ford. Car firms are racing to make their new models so hi-tech they create the auto-motive answer to the iPhone. BMW has even set up its own hi-tech division that makes electric cars with the prefix ‘i’. Why not accelerate ahead of the pack with an iCar? Newson does little to damp down the speculation: ‘There is certainly vast opportunity in that area to be more intelligent.’

★ Friday, 5 June 2015