Steve Jobs Had Enough Black Turtlenecks to Last a Lifetime
Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple, Inc. who passed away on Oct. 5 at age 56, reportedly had enough black turtlenecks to last him a lifetime. However, he sported them only because his primary vision of uniforms for Apple employees was rejected.
There is a story behind Apple visionary's signature black turtleneck, and it dates back some three decades, according to Gawker. Jobs originally wanted his team to wear corporate uniforms – Asian style black nylon jackets. The Apple CEO got the idea from the then-chairman of Sony, after he noticed the factory workers wearing uniforms, when he visited Japan in the 1980s.
Jobs liked the idea that uniforms bounded the employees together and would become a part of the company's brand. He even asked the famous Japanese fashion designer, Issey Miyake, to design a vest for Apple employees. But his team hated it, and rejected the idea.
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The story was described in detail to Gawker by Jobs' biographer, Walter Isaacson, who wrote to the publication after reading their report announcing Jobs as a fashion icon.
"I came back with some samples and told everyone it would [be] great if we would all wear these vests," Jobs reportedly told Isaacson. "Oh man, did I get booed off the stage. Everybody hated the idea."
However, Jobs kept the idea of creating a uniform for himself, Isaacson said. He ended up asking Miyake to make him some of his black turtlenecks, which the innovator really liked. Miyake delivered about a hundred. Jobs reportedly said himself that he had "enough to last for the rest of" his life, the biographer recalled.
Jobs died of respiratory arrest resulting from pancreatic cancer that had spread to his other organs. The mastermind behind iPhone and iPad had been known to have suffered from pancreatic cancer since 2004. He had also received a liver transplant.
Isaacson's biography of the technology guru, titled Steve Jobs, will be available Oct. 24.
