After making its international magazine cover debut on the wrist of Chinese supermodel Liu Wen in the Chinese Issue of Vogue a few months back, the Apple Watch is getting its very first US magazine cover. Model and Victoria’s Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel will be wearing the Apple Watch Sport with a white fluoroelastomer band on the cover of fitness and health magazine Self.
Until now, Apple’s marketing has been fairly restrained and heavily focused on fashion, but with the piece in Self, the company appears to be targeting fitness enthusiasts who might purchase the Apple Watch for its health-related functions — step tracking and heart rate monitoring. It’s likely that Self will be just one of many publications to feature the Apple Watch in the coming weeks as the device’s launch approaches, and Apple is expected to market the Apple Watch to a wide range of potential customers.
Self has this to say about the cover, “Aside from the I-want-to-be-Candice quality of our new March cover, notice anything else about the photo? The Apple Watch is getting a star moment, too, as Candice is the first woman to wear one on a magazine cover in the US. With the device starting at around $349 available next month, it’s on our wishlist. (Even our editor-in-chief, Joyce Chang, can’t wait to use her Apple Watch.”
“Aside from all the overall productivity the device offers, we’re zeroing in on the health aspects,” Writes Self about the decision to feature the Apple Watch. “Considering Swanepoel’s athletic prowess, it was an ideal accessory for her sporty cover shoot.” The Watch itself is even showing the Activity app, Apple’s built in app for tracking movement and calories.
Apple will reportedly start shipping the Apple Watch in April. The Cupertino company has been working with developers to get their apps ready for the Apple Watch, and has even invited some of them to its headquarters.