Commentators and tech-minded eulogists have dissected Steve Jobs’ life and legacy since his death last week. Among the most widely discussed Jobs-related icon: the Apple CEO’s signature black turtlenecks.
Sales of the $175 mock turtleneck that Jobs wore more than doubled in the hours after he died, according to St. Croix, the Minnesota retailer that makes them. (The company said it would donate a portion of the sales to the American Cancer Society.) TMZ, which was among the first media outlets to report the “skyrocketing” sales, ran a slideshow of “CELEBRITIES WEARING TURTLENECKS” the next day in Jobs’ honor.
So just how many turtlenecks did Steve Jobs own?
According to Walter Isaacson’s biography on Apple’s former chief, which is being rushed to publication later this month, Jobs had “about a hundred” of the Issey Miyake-designed shirts stacked in his closet.
Gawker has the excerpt:
He also came to like the idea of having a uniform for himself, both because of its daily convenience (the rationale he claimed) and its ability to convey a signature style. “So I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, and he made me like a hundred of them.” Jobs noticed my surprise when he told this story, so he showed them stacked up in the closet. “That’s what I wear,” he said. “I have enough to last for the rest of my life.”
Jobs initially wanted Miyake to design a vest for all Apple employees to wear. “I came back with some samples and told everyone it would great if we would all wear these vests,” Jobs told Isaacson. “Oh man, did I get booed off the stage. Everybody hated the idea.”
