In last week’s Field Note, I wrote about how fashion gets smartphones wrong when they make accessories that compromise the functionality of the smartphone itself, are unable to survive upgrade cycles, or both. Metallic smartphone cases fail because they compromise functionality. Fitted smartphone and earbud cases fail because they’re tied to the specific design of the devices for which they’re designed and so can’t survive most device upgrades and become obsolete.

This leads to a question: Do there exist categories of fashion smartphone accessories that meet the test? In other words, categories of accessories that preserve smartphone functionality and still work when the design of the smartphone—or the smartphone-adjacent device—changes? Yes, and I know of at least four:

Each of these categories has two things in common. First, they don’t make the phone worse at being a phone. Second, they can survive the upgrade cycle—they either rely on durable standards or are simply designed in a way to accommodate changes over time.

To be clear, none of these objects is necessary—though one possible definition of all luxury might be “that which is not necessary”. But if you want accessorize your smartphone, and you want to do so with something from a fashion house, you should at least know what the basic test is and which categories of accessories pass it.

Many smartphones don’t include lanyard loops, but some do, some smartphone cases do, and notably, Apple’s charging cases for the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 models do. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can see the lanyard loop on the side of the AirPods Pro case here:

The cleanest examples I know of—lanyard only, no associated case, lanyard loop-compatible—are from Hermès:

That lanyard has a small task, to help you find, grasp, and hold onto your AirPods Pro charging case (or other device with a lanyard loop). Does it do a lot? No. Does it look good doing it? Subjectively, yes. Importantly, is the lanyard loop going away as a de facto standard? Highly unlikely.

The Qi standard for wireless smartphone charging was introduced back in 2010, but if you remember it, you’ll remember how annoying it was, as you kept moving and rotating your smartphone around to try to get it to connect. In 2020, Apple introduced MagSafe, which uses a series of magnets to automatically align smartphone and charger or other accessory, and created a completely new ecosystem of products using MagSafe. In 2023, the Qi2 standard launched, incorporating Apple’s idea of magnetic alignment.

I thought I’d find more examples of magnetic chargers for smartphones from fashion houses, but again we find ourselves back at Hermès:

Again, this device isn’t meant to do much: charge your smartphone or other compatible accessory. And again, it subjectively looks good doing it, and the MagSafe / Qi2 wireless charging system almost certainly isn’t going anywhere for a long time, so you won’t end up with a paperweight.

As part of the MagSafe / Qi2 ecosystem, there are no shortage of magnetic wallets that will snap to the back of your smartphone, and multiple luxury fashion houses offer them, including Louis Vuitton:

Magnetic wallets usually hold one or two credit cards or similar-size cards such as driver’s licenses. They occupy the MagSafe area, so you can’t wirelessly charge with them, but it’s literally a second to pop them off. Again, these should be compatible with devices for some time to come, so if this is your kind of accessory, you can feel safe in buying it.

A number of fashion houses offer smartphone pouches. If you like the idea of carrying your smartphone in the crossbody style, you could go for something elevated:

This is arguably the least technical category here. It includes no magnets and doesn’t even depend on a lanyard loop. As long as your smartphone fits, it’ll work. Bottega Veneta says that this case fits up to an iPhone 17 Pro Max, a credit card case, AirPods, and keys. This is likely the most durable item on the list, at least as long as the smartphone form factor is with us.

Last week, I advised readers to consider fashion smartphone accessories only when they can survive the upgrade cycle and don’t make the phone worse at being a phone.

The most persuasive examples go beyond that defensive test. They improve life around the smartphone in some small way, making it easier to carry, charge, find, or put down. Each item above can be bought in a non-luxury version at ten percent—or even one percent—of the cost. But each also has a luxury argument: better materials, better design, and regular contact with an object you already handle constantly.

Be suspicious of accessories fitted to this year’s particular rectangle. Be more open to accessories attached to standards, conventions, and everyday habits. A good luxury accessory should make living with your smartphone feel a bit more satisfying.

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