Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010

Courtesy of Moma Design Store

At the last hipster gathering we went to, we were slightly disconcerted to note that only one person in the room had a traditional, clamshell-type Japanese keitai. Such is the ubiquity of the iPhone that it takes more than a few novelty apps to stand out from the (well-dressed and -coiffured) crowd—something like, say, cladding your common-as-muck smartphone in what at first glance looks like chainmail. Textile designer Sandy Chilewich’s iPhone case is actually made from her signature woven vinyl, with a polycarbonate inner shell to provide added protection. Which is good, because real chainmail would just be impractical.

Chilewich iPhone cover, ¥4,480. Available from Moma Design Store: 3F Gyre, 5-10-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku. Tel: 03-5468-5801. Open daily 11am-8pm (closed on Gyre hols). Nearest stn: Meiji-Jingumae. www.momastore.jp