Airbnb has hired the expertise of Jony Ive to help the company come up with interesting designs on its new product line over the next few years.
Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder and chief executive officer, has announced the rental marketplace's multiyear deal with LoveFrom, Ive's latest design team.
Ive calls it a "special collaboration" between Airbnb and LoveFrom. He will also help Aribnb develop its internal design team, including a redesign of the company's ratings-based system to vet guests and hosts.
According to Chesky, he and Ive share "the same belief in the value and importance of creativity and design," and that he is optimistic that their partnership is a testament of "the seriousness of our design-driven approach," Yahoo's Mariella Moon quoted the CEO as saying.
The British-American designer, who is a close creative partner with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, is responsible for developing both new operating systems and hardware at the California-based tech titan for 20 years.
The last major Apple product that Ive worked on was the Apple Watch in 2015. At that time, Loup Ventures' Andrew Murphy and Gene Munster said that he deserves the accolade for conceptualizing a "design-first culture" at Apple.
The deal with LoveFrom coincides with Airbnb's latest initiative to secure around $3 billion for its forthcoming initial public offering, sources said.
Airbnb told its staff that Chief Design Officer Alex Schleifer would be leaving his post for a part-time role and that Airbnb would be hiring a replacement, a source close to the company said.
Airbnb is seen to be among the biggest and highly-awaited stock market listings in the U.S. this year, which has already been a successful year for IPOs.
The American vacation rental online group filed confidentially for an initial public offering in August this year. It is expected to raise about $1 billion in the initial public offering that would value the company close to $30 billion, based on a Reuters report.
