What if a product could target tech bros, bag charm lovers and streetwear fanatics at once? Apple’s new iPhone Pocket attempts to answer this question. Released in collaboration with Issey Miyake, the knitted sock-looking contraption is meant to do just what its name suggests — act as a colorful, stretchy pocket for your phone.
Unsurprisingly, the iPhone Pocket announcement immediately polarized public opinion. Social media was flooded with jokes and memes about its steep price, which ranges from $150 for the short strap version and $230 for the long strap. Many also drew comparisons to Thneeds, fictional all-purpose garments from Dr.Seuss’ The Lorax, which — fittingly — symbolize the pitfalls of unchecked consumerism.
Despite the general public’s criticism, the iPhone Pocket sold out in every color, in a matter of hours, upon its release on November 14.
courtesy of apple
What Is the iPhone Pocket?
Unlike a typical phone case, the iPhone Pocket is designed to carry any iPhone model, along with small essentials like AirPods or lip gloss. Featuring a ribbed, elastic structure, the 3D-knitted pouch can be worn in a variety of ways: held in the hand, looped around a bag strap like a keychain or across your body.
Its concept is reminiscent of Issey Miyake’s radical design philosophy, which centered around “a piece of cloth”; the designer set out to minimize cutting and sewing by creating garments from a single piece of continuous material, resulting in seamless, sculptural forms.
The Pocket marks Apple’s first major fashion house collaboration since the Apple Watch Hermès in 2015, and Issey Miyake seems like a fitting choice in more ways than one. The late Steve Jobs famously turned the designer’s black turtlenecks into a personal uniform of sorts, wearing them constantly. There’s also a link that naturally emerges between the two brands’ design ethos: a focus on simplicity, intuitive functionality and technical precision.
“The design of iPhone Pocket speaks to the bond between iPhone and its user, while keeping in mind that an Apple product is designed to be universal in aesthetic and versatile in use,” said Yoshiyuki Miyamae, a design director from Miyake Design Studio, in Apple’s official press release. “The simplicity of [the iPhone Pocket’s] design echoes what we practice at Issey Miyake — the idea of leaving things less defined to allow for possibilities and personal interpretation.”
courtesy of apple
Why Did It Sell Out?
The public’s initial negative reaction to the iPhone Pocket may have actually been a key contributing factor in its commercial success. Particularly in the tech sphere, critics fixated on the accessory’s exorbitant price for what was essentially a simple piece of knitwear.
One X User suggested that Apple loyalists would “pay anything for anything as long as it’s Apple.” Others commented on the Pocket’s failure to offer the core utility expected of a phone accessory — protection. Instead, users claimed, the Pocket would just slow down access to the phone, as one would have to take the extra step of taking the device out of the knit fabric before texting or opening the camera app.
These criticisms, while valid, only amplified the product’s visibility and desirability. At the end of the day, despite its marketing as a functional accessory, the Pocket was designed for collectors and luxury enthusiasts — which is why it was launched only in a handful of flagship stores worldwide, with limited stock online.
In this sense, the iPhone Pocket is not unlike the viral Rhode “Lip Case” — a silicone phone case that holds your lip gloss in its indented exterior — in principle. Both accessories are just outlandish and tongue-in-cheek enough to generate intrigue, and just functional enough to spend one’s disposable income on.
The success of the iPhone Pocket drop also confirms a burgeoning and highly profitable trend: the strategic alliance between big tech and luxury fashion. It’s a win-win scenario for the two industries, which both heavily rely on exclusivity, novelty and collector culture.
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Updated On November 17, 2025
