Apple Hires Yves St. Laurent CEO For ‘Special Projects,’ Apple iWatch Rumors Heat Up

Apple iWatch and other Apple design rumors are heating up over the news that the high-tech leader has hired the CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, Paul Deneve, away from the legendary fashion house to work on unnamed “special projects.”

The new hire was announced by Bloomberg and other business media on Tuesday afternoon, so the details of what those projects will be is still pretty thin. Apple’s official statement didn’t exactly give away any top secret information:

“We’re thrilled to welcome Paul Deneve to Apple. He’ll be working on special projects as a vice president reporting directly to Tim Cook.”

In the absence of hard information, the rumors continue to swirl around the Apple iWatch, which has recently been at the center of activity designed to protect the company’s trademark. Reaction to the hire of the former Yves St. Laurent CEO is somewhat mixed among self-proclaimed nerds and geeks on the ground.

Yves St. Laurent, is of course, well known for its iconic perfumes. Slashdot posters were happy to crack the mandatory perfume jokes.

“It must be smellable computing! Yeah, stinky computers,” said one observer.

On a more serious note, Network World noted that smart watches and other luxury projects are highly likely to be on Paul Deneve’s to-do list. After all, if Apple intends to get serious about wearable technology, it might be a good idea to make it more fashion-y and less Dick Tracy.

Francisco Jeronimo of IDC, a market intelligence firm, said that the wearable tech market “will explode in the next couple of years.” He also noted that Apple is already good at convincing people to buy products that they don’t necessarily know that they want until they see them.

YSL is pretty good at doing exactly the same thing and for big money. So it could be an interesting pairing.

And it shouldn’t take Deneve long to get up to speed, since he previously worked for Apple in the 1990s.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a sneak peak at the 2019 Apple iWatch:

Would you be more inclined to wear an Apple iWatch if it featured a luxury design?