Jawbone is making an aggressive fashion play to coincide with New York Fashion Week.
The electronics company unveiled a range of fashion-focused activity trackers and a host of fresh color options for its existing Up2 and Up3 bands on Tuesday. A $99 Up2 strap that looks like a rope will join the existing Up2 band that came out in April. The brand said the braceletlike style “blends in more on the wrist” and more closely resembles jewelry. In addition to classic black and gunmetal, the band comes in turquoise, purple and gold.
A violet version of the original Up2 band, which came in only black and silver when the style was relaunched in April, will also be released. And there will be navy, red and gold versions of the Up3, which costs $179 and sports an advanced multisensor tracker. It is nearly identical aesthetically to the Up2.
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Jawbone will host an event to unveil the products and colors Wednesday in downtown New York.
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While wearable tech is still a nascent category with significant hurdles ahead of it, Seventh Avenue and Silicon Valley have been inching closer together for some time. In 2012, Google tapped Diane von Furstenberg to help introduce its Glass to consumers (although the technology was later reimagined for the professional market). And just last month Ralph Lauren brought its smart shirt to market.
“People don’t want to wear technology on their body,” said Travis Bogard, Jawbone vice president of product management and strategy. “People have worn jewelry on their body for a long time — that dates back thousands of years — but [our] focus is how do you make this technology into a form that will be more like what someone is familiar with wearing?”
This means using materials that are more precious and colors that “bring the materials to life.”
Bogard said that the company has sold millions of devices in the past year, but declined to get more specific. He did note that the category has experienced immense growth the past two years, with Jawbone seeing 200 percent growth year over year in 2013 and 2014.