Loewe and Jacob & Co. elevate wearable tech to High Fashion

The merger of fashion and technology has been a bumpy ride. The fashion industry has often approached it with the question: “What can tech do for us?” The answers have not always been inspiring. Jackets with built-in heating panels, compression wear with biometric sensors, or LED-lit outerwear may be useful in theory, but have rarely translated into something consumers actually desire. So far, the results have been practical rather than aspirational.

That is why the Meta and Ray-Ban collaboration last year felt like a breakthrough. By combining iconic design with wearable technology, the glasses managed to offer genuinely useful features, a 12MP camera, open-ear speakers, and an integrated AI assistant, without compromising on aesthetics. For the first time, the product looked and felt like a piece of fashion rather than a gadget.

But perhaps the more interesting question is the reverse: “what can fashion do for technology?” Too many wearables still solve problems that don’t exist or look too futuristic to be worn with confidence. The challenge lies in bringing style and cultural cachet to devices that otherwise risk remaining niche.

What can fashion do for technology?

This is the path German audio company Loewe is pursuing with its latest collaboration with jeweller and watchmaker Jacob & Co. The two have joined forces to design a pair of luxury headphones that sit as much in the realm of high jewellery as in consumer electronics. Alongside acoustic engineering and active noise cancellation, the headphones are finished with leather, gemstones, and handcrafted detailing more typical of a Parisian couture house than an electronics trade fair.

Two expressions of mastery underscore the artistry involved. The Noir Rainbow features a handcrafted 14K rose gold ring, set with 15.97 carats of vibrant gemstones, a bold and luminous statement of sound and jewellery artistry. The Ice Diamond showcases a handcrafted 14K white gold ring (42.5 g), adorned with 12.47 carats of dazzling diamonds, including 456 brilliant-cut stones, offering a pure and precise homage to jewellery craftsmanship.

The ambition is clear: to prove that technology need not be ugly, nor accessories disposable. It echoes what Apple achieved in 2001 with its first iPod headphones, where white wires stood out in a sea of black as both a fashion statement and functional audio device.

Loewe’s new headphones are unlikely to replicate that mainstream success, at least not at a price tag of 100,000 euros. But like haute couture, they are produced in extremely limited quantities, aimed at collectors and clients who value exclusivity as much as utility. The launch in Monaco last week, staged aboard the Loewe Yacht, underscored that positioning.

More than a singular product, this collaboration marks the beginning of a new Loewe era, the company said in a statement, a milestone in luxury audio art and a signal of the brand’s intent to blend design, fashion, and technology. Loewe promises that more extraordinary creations will be unveiled this month.

Rather than a mass-market product, the headphones function as a statement of vision: an attempt to position wearable tech at the very top of the luxury spectrum. It is also very much a case of quality over quantity. Whether this approach trickles down to more accessible products remains to be seen. But in blending acoustic precision with fine jewellery design, Loewe and Jacob & Co. offer a glimpse of what wearable technology might look like once fashion is allowed to have a say.