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Fossil has just announced two smartwatches designed for, and marketed toward, women. "As a fashion watch company, we were excited for technology to come to the wrist, but as design geeks, we hadn't seen anything in the market we'd be proud to wear daily," the brand's chief creative officer, Jill Elliott, told Racked.
The "Q Wander" joins the brand's existing lineup of Android Wear watches, available this fall. The style has been sized down to 44mm and 46mm cases, based on customer feedback. "We are constantly listening to our customers, and as a result took the technology they responded to and added the design features they requested," Elliott said.
As it stands, women haven't been especially responsive to smartwatches, though we dominate the activity tracker market. Two of the biggest issues have been sizing and styling. The things are clunky in every sense of the word.
A brand like Fossil is attacking the concept from a different place than Apple or Motorola. Fossil is a well-known watch brand with deep roots in the accessories market, adding new tech (versus a tech brand trying to figure out how to best strap big ideas to your wrist). The company plunked down $260 million to acquire wearable maker Misfit late last year, so clearly they're serious about the opportunity, and women represent huge sales potential. "We believe as we continue to broaden our product assortment, and make impactful and smart updates," Elliott says, "women will continue to not only accept the category but also actively engage and lead the wearable technology industry."