Levi Strauss will be launching iPod Jeans, which will fature built-in headphones, a joystick and a docking cradle.
The RedWire DLX range is designed for men and women, and has a special side pocket with a white leather patch to store an iPod.
A four-way joystick on the watch pocket allows the user to play/pause, track forward/back and adjust the volume without removing the player.
Retractable headphones have been built in, as has a docking cradle that allows users to look at their iPod screen and control it via the jeans.
"In designing the jeans we considered both function and fashion. The result is a uniquely functional, yet stylish, great fitting jean," said Robert Hanson, Levi's US brand president.
The launch raises all kinds of issues, including the most obvious one: how do you wash the jeans? Levi-Strauss says that once you remove the iPod the jeans are machine-washable. But where is the joystick? And the cradle? We really need to see a photo of this one before we can fully comprehend what's happening here. Mysteriously enough, the CEO of Levi Strauss refuses to release any photos yet.
....Chief Executive Philip Marineau, hasn't released any pictures of the intriguing new design, but it has described a something like the iPod's trackpad being incorporated into the jeans’ watch pocket. Levis said the infused controls would be compatible with most of the players systems.
The inevitable question of how the denims would be washed is answered thus by the company's spokesperson: "First you would need to remove your iPod and headphones." Check. "And the technology itself," explains Amy Jasmer, "is washable. It's a small device that fits inside the pocket as a docking station with the joystick on the outside of the pocket." You essentially wouldn't even have to go through the trouble of reaching into your pocket to change songs.
Levis had been talking for several months with Apple about the project, Jasmer says. "We thought it would be a great way to bring two icons together." What will they think of next...
It would be horribly cynical of us to assume that this is some kind of evil plot to make people buy more iPods to replace all the ones that will get run through the washing machine.
