Thanks to a partnership with Everpurse, Kate Spade & Co. will start making purses that not only house your iPhone stylishly — they'll charge it, too. The handbag line, which will go on sale in September and ranges in price from $198 and $698, is designed to alleviate the issues plagued by "customers who live a life on-the-go," according to Kate Spade Executive Vice President and CMO Mary Beech.
That is: things like running out of phone battery before the day is through, carrying a charging cable in your purse so you can plug in while you drink your afternoon Frappuccino, or having to roam the office peppering your coworkers with, "Do you have a charger? Do you have a charger?"
The totes, clutches, wristlets, and backpacks, co-developed by Kate Spade and Everpurse over the course of 10 months, can last two days on a full charge, all the while juicing up your iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, 6, or 6 Plus. And, these bags don't need to be plugged in — that'd feel slightly ridiculous. Instead, they use a wireless charging mat you can place on your countertop. That keeps the purse charged, which in turn can keep your phone charged, wire-free.
This is a functional step forward: An integration of technology and fashion that will actually make your life easier, not something shiny-but-impractical like covering a purse in multicolored LEDs. If you have an unplanned sleepover, you don't have to worry about waking up to a dead iPhone and having to ask strangers for directions to the nearest subway station. Your purse can keep charging your phone for two days.
It's also a step forward for wireless charging in general. Until now, wireless charging (for the most part) has been a clunky experience limited to a handful of Windows Phones, Android handsets, and other random, early adopter-type products. But, it's now moving into the mainstream. Starbucks recently began rolling out wireless charging stations in many of its store locations.
While Kate Spade is one of the first to include Everpurse's wireless technology in its handbags, it (hopefully) won't be the last. Everpurse investor and adviser Peter England told the Wall Street Journal that he hopes the startup will become the fashion industry’s “Intel inside.”
Now this is the kind of tech we should have seen at Silicon Valley Fashion Week.
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