Ondrej Holzman Apple continues to poach big fish from the fashion world. After Angela Ahrendts now he has also acquired Chester Chipperfield, the fashion house's current vice president of digital and interactive design, from Burberry. Apple is clearly not going to sell the Apple Watch as just another product.
At Burberry, Chipperfield was responsible for user experience and digital design for all channels and was also heavily involved in digital sales. His former boss, Angela Ahrendts, is now senior vice president of retail and online sales at Apple, and Chipperfield could be an important colleague for her.
In just a few months, the expected Apple Watch will go on sale, and the Californian company considers its watch not only a technological product, but also a fashion accessory. That's why she started hiring high-profile managers from the fashion world, and Chipperfield also fits into that formula.
Apple is planning to partially remodel brick-and-mortar stores for its Watch, and Chipperfield could take charge of their online purchases, and Apple will probably want to change its approach a bit, if it wants to reach users who are not yet interested in Apple with watches.
On his LinkedIn profile, Chipperfield says he has been working on "special projects" at Apple since January, but can be expected to be in a similar area to his four years at Burberry, in digital and sales.
