Airbnb has announced it has hired former Apple design chief Jony Ive and his firm, LoveFrom.
According to a company blog post written by Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, the latter says he hired Ive, one of his “good friends for many years.”
“One of the designers who Joe and I have most admired is Jony Ive, the former Chief Design Officer at Apple. Over a year ago, Jony formed a new company called LoveFrom as a collection of creatives that include designers, architects, musicians, writers, engineers, and artists,” writes Chesky.
“Jony and I have been good friends for many years, and he has been gracious enough to provide me with guidance and advice. We share the same belief in the value and importance of creativity and design. We each believe not only in making objects and interfaces, but in crafting services and experiences. We’ve seen how design can facilitate trust and enable more human connection, something people are desperate for during an unprecedented time of loneliness and disconnection,” added Chesky.
Chesky says he is “thrilled” to announce Ive and LoveFrom will be “engaging in a special collaboration with me and the Airbnb team. We have made the decision to work together through a multi-year relationship to design the next generation of Airbnb products and services.”
Specifically, Ive will help Airbnb “develop our internal design team, which he believes to be one of the world’s best.”
“I hope all of this speaks to the seriousness of our design-driven approach. We believe that working together will be an important and powerful creative partnership. We’re both excited about the ideas we already have, as well as ideas that are currently beyond our imagination,” concluded Chesky.
Back in June 2019, Ive announced he was leaving Apple. One month later, trademarks for his firm LoveFrom surfaced online. LoveFrom has Apple as one of its clients and also has designer Marc Newson working alongside Ive.
