Michael Kors has been a tremendously successful fashion designer for decades, but now he and his team are embarking on a statement for the future with his first Android powered smartwatches that aim to make a fashion statement while providing you with all the bells and whistles of a fitness tracker and more.
Michael Kors smartwatches – Android beauty and reporting
Thanks to excellent reporting from Samantha Murphy Kelly at Mashable, we’re happy to be able to finally report on the first two, highly anticipated, Android Wear-powered smartwatches by fashion icon Michael Kors. Michael Kors has enjoyed a very successful career in the fickle fashion industry for a number of years but his place as an icon was essentially cemented by his recurring role as a primary judge on “Project Runway.”
For now, only two watches will make it to department stores and Michael Kors stores when they ship in the fall of 2016 ahead of the holiday shopping season. The wrists of women will have the opportunity to be adorned by a gold-plated wearable, while men will be treated to a sporty black number with both retailing for $395.
While more will come in following seasons, fashion comes first in Michael Kors’ world.
“We began by exploring a large number of designs, which we eventually narrowed down to a few body options,” Kors, chairman and chief creative officer, told Murphy-Kelly via email. “There were many rounds of prototypes to get to the final product line.
“We looked closely at a range of colors and materials, so there were a lot of samples with various plating and material combinations before we arrived at the best options for both the watch and the straps. We also spent a lot of time exploring designs for the digital watch faces, because they’re an important part of what we are offering our customer.”
As each runs Android Wear, users will simply need either an Apple iPhone or one of the many Android options in order to get the true “smart” aspects from these timepieces. Those include but are not limited to: fitness/health tracking, text messages, email, and app notifications.
Both allow for customization
“It was important to us that the display watch was customizable, so users can incorporate their own personal style into their smartwatch,” Kors chairman and CEO John Idol told Mashable. “For example, through the day, customers will be able to change out straps or the watch face to reflect their mood or personal style.”
“Not only do we think the wearable technology business is going to grow in the future, we also saw the huge opportunity in the current space for products that look luxurious and focus on the design as well as functionality,” Idol said.
“We’ll continue to deliver fashion watches to our customers and this includes smartwatches, too, since we believe there is enormous potential for tech accessories.”
Each of these offerings are lovely and will certainly offer something for people who view fashion to be important that technology. That said, it’s getting more and more difficult for people to ignore the wearable market when choosing a watch when players like Michael Kors, Tag-Heuer and others throw their hats into the arena. And in the case of Michael Kors, it will be both a fashionable watch as well as a fashionable hat for both his wrist and head as well as for his customers.
