After Apple, Jony Ive Is Building an Empire of His Own

New York Times. September 21, 2024. – Part 2 of 2.

An Elegant History of Buttons

From a bench at a long wooden table inside the LoveFrom studio on that morning in late June, Mr. Ive flipped through images of his firm’s work. There was a coronation emblem for King Charles III, a jacket for the Italian luxury brand Moncler and an interior touch-screen for the first electric Ferrari.

The three-story studio was a blend of Mr. Ive’s past and present. Exposed brick walls framed a long table for design discussions — much as he had at Apple. Waist-high tables nearby, similar to those at an Apple Store, displayed finished work. And shelves along the walls displayed white coffee table books about design research.

“This is my button book,” Mr. Ive said, as he flipped open one of the oversized books titled “Garment Fasteners Design Research.” Its pages were filled with images of fasteners and pins from prehistory through the Bronze Age. It was the first of a custom-printed, five-volume series of books with pictures and analysis of mankind’s entire history of making buttons for clothing. “Five years we’ve been working on this, and we absolutely love it.”

When Mr. Ive first considered leaving Apple, he turned to his friend Marc Newson for advice. The Australian-born industrial designer, who joined Apple in 2014 to work on the Apple Watch, had spent his career at an independent design firm with work that ranged from luxury yachts and surfboards to Louis Vuitton luggage and vibrators. Mr. Newson suggested that they start a creative collective to work on projects.

Recalling those early conversations, Mr. Newson said the goal was to leave behind the grind and rigor of Apple. “The freedom was the idea,” Mr. Newson said.

Over five years, Mr. Ive and Mr. Newson hired architects, graphic designers, writers and a cinematic special effects developer who work across three areas: work for the love of it, which they do without pay; work for clients, which includes Airbnb and Ferrari; and work for themselves, which includes the building renovation.

Mr. Ive’s “button book” is emblematic of the firm’s approach. During a conversation in 2019 with Remo Ruffini, the chief executive of Moncler, Mr. Ive learned that the jacket maker was uncertain how to use a new yarn made of recycled nylon. Mr. Ive proposed creating a jacket cut from a single piece of cloth with no seams.

The resulting coat is a blanket of goose down that can be zipped together to create two sleeves. It slips inside the shell of a poncho, parka or a field jacket and is held in place by custom, magnetic buttons that snap together with a click like an AirPods case. The buttons are etched with LoveFrom’s mascot: a brown bear inspired by California’s state flag.

The jacket will be released this fall as a special edition item. It will cost more than $2,000.

The Moncler project was something Mr. Ive collaborated on because he wanted to design his first garment. It fit into his belief that the firm should do some work that he says is for “the love of others” and some that is for the “love of us.”

The firm’s largest “for us” project is the Jackson Square redevelopment. On a 114-inch TV near the studio’s entrance, Mr. Ive showed an artist’s rendering of the parking lot as a garden. Pebbled pathways cut between green grass. Hedges created a perimeter of greenery along the walls of the surrounding buildings and trees provided shade for outdoor chairs. A pavilion stood in the center for meetings and events.

The firm’s studio will fill two buildings between the courtyard and street. Because of a zoning requirement, one of the buildings will have a LoveFrom store where the firm will sell products like its custom notebooks and Moncler jackets

He and Mr. Newson hope the renovation, which is scheduled for completion in late 2025, draws others to the area. Several firms have already followed, including Emerson Collective, which was founded by Laurene Powell