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Marc Newson, Bono and Jony Ive (left to right) attend Jony And Marc's (Red) Auction at Sotheby's in New York City late last year.
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Apple has hired world-famous Australian designer Marc Newson, known for his watch company Ikepod and a futuristic design style tuned to high-fashion concepts.

Newson will remain in the UK where he will take on the role of senior vice president of design under Jony Ive, who leads industrial design as well as Apple's so-called "Human Interface" software teams. The news was by Vanity Fair earlier Friday.

Apple is expected to release a long-rumored wearable device, dubbed the "iWatch," next week alongside two new iPhone models. That makes Newson the latest in a string of high-profile hires Apple has made from the fashion community to help steer its brand and design as it enters its first new product category since the 2010 introduction of the iPad tablet. Apple's top executive talent also includes Nike's Ben Shaffer, former burberry shoes price in south africa CEO Angela Ahrendts, and Paul Deneve, the former CEO of Yves Saint Laurent.

With Ikepod, which Newson founded in 1994 and departed from two years ago, the designer blended high-end fashion with the wacky designs of sci-fi concept art. He's perhaps most famous, though, for his Lockheed Lounge, a aluminum-covered chair he designed in 1986 and built with his bare hands. In 2006, one sold for a record $1.6 million, the highest amount ever paid at the time for the work of a living contemporary designer.