Airbnb hires Sir Jony Ive for redesign ahead of a £23bn float

Oct 22, 2020

Airbnb hires Apple legend Sir Jony Ive for redesign ahead of a £23bn float later this year

By Daily Mail City & Finance Reporter

Published: 16:56 EDT, 22 October 2020 | Updated: 17:29 EDT, 22 October 2020

Airbnb has hired famed former Apple designer Sir Jony Ive to lead a redesign of the company ahead of a £23billion float later this year.

The home rental site has hired Ive’s company, LoveFrom, to revamp its app and website, as well as create new products in a ‘special collaboration’ that will last for several years.

Ive, who is British and was knighted in 2012, was lauded for overseeing the creation of the iPhone. 

Airbnb has hired Sir Jony Ive’s company, LoveFrom, to revamp its app and website, as well as create new products in a ‘special collaboration’ that will last for several years

The 53-year-old was a close colleague of Apple founder Steve Jobs and was head of the company’s design from the 1990s until June 2019, and Apple is one of LoveFrom’s major clients.

Airbnb has rebounded from the Covid pandemic, which at its peak wiped out 80 per cent of its bookings. 

It cut a quarter of its workforce, raised £1.5billion of debt and cancelled all marketing in a bid to stay afloat.

Since June, analysts believe bookings in some areas have surpassed 2019 levels.

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