Sartorial Sounds: High Fashion Meets High Fidelity With New Headphones

<p>For years, headphones represented nothing more than a simple accessory. Unless you were an audiophile obsessed with high impedance, expensive headphones were a low priority. When the iPod launched in 2001, Apple chose a basic white set instead of the traditional black. A decade later, those ear-buds are as iconic as the very device.</p> <p>As technology marches forward, transforming computers into recording studios and phones into personal stereo systems, headphones have similarly become both a fashion statement and a means to hear music. Companies, such as Skullcandy and Beats from Monster, and celebrities, such as Kate Upton and Dr. Dre, have since entered the mix, yielding a multimillion-dollar industry. Music-lovers no longer have to choose between high fidelity and high fashion. Today’s headphones both look good and sound good.</p> <p>To shed further light on this trend, we polled some of our favorite people in and around the world of music: DJ and designer <a href="http://joshmadden.com">Josh Madden</a>, producer <a href="http://www.wilcassettes.com">Alan Wilkis</a>, international DJs and reality TV stars the <a href="http://staffordbrothers.com">Stafford Brothers</a>, DJ and <a href="http://mixman.com/">Mixman</a> software-creator Josh Gabriel, Industrial Design Director at <a href="http://www.skullcandy.com/">Skullcandy</a> Pete Kelly, and <a href="http://www.papermag.com/">PAPER</a> Magazine Executive Editor Alexis Swerdloff.</p> <p><a href="http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s423/lukekintigh/kbsiQ_Headphones_Large.png" target="_blank"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="http://kapost-files-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/asset/file/4ffb424a343b3500010004e8/kbs_iq_headphones_large.png" alt="" width="520" height="1200" /></a></p>  <script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[ var _kapost_data = _kapost_data || []; _kapost_data.push([1, "4fd0c8232efec800010026bb", "4f7a1564e8f5360001000868", "4fce7dcb63af1f0001000117", escape("Media")]); (function() { var ka = document.createElement('script'); ka.async=true; ka.id="kp_tracker"; ka.src="http://savoy-prod.heroku.com/javascripts/tracker.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ka, s); })(); // ]]></script>  <p> </p>  <script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[ var _kapost_data = _kapost_data || []; _kapost_data.push([1, "4fd0c8232efec800010026bb", "4f7a1564e8f5360001000868", "4fce7dcb63af1f0001000117", escape("Media")]); (function() { var ka = document.createElement('script'); ka.async=true; ka.id="kp_tracker"; ka.src="http://savoy-prod.heroku.com/javascripts/tracker.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ka, s); })(); // ]]></script>

Sartorial Sounds: High Fashion Meets High Fidelity With New Headphones

Regis Crawford