Instead, it is Jonathan Ive, chief design officer of Apple, who has become the face of the brand. It is Mr. Ive who will be at the top of the Met’s steps with Anna Wintour, welcoming guests to the gala as an official “co-chair”; Mr. Ive who popped up, somewhat surprisingly, on the Vanity Fair best-dressed list last month; Mr. Ive who has become the embodiment of Apple’s ambitions in the fashion world.

And despite the fact that the retail rollout of the Apple Watch was, presumably, partly Ms. Ahrendts’s responsibility, even Paul Deneve, the former Saint Laurent chief executive who joined Apple to lead special projects, has been more visible than Ms. Ahrendts, showing up at the cocktail party for the introduction of the Hermès Apple Watch during Paris Fashion Week, and hobnobbing with his old style-world compatriots.

In a recent Fortune profile tied to the publication ranking her as the 16th most powerful woman, a rare interview since Ms. Ahrendts joined Apple (and which, the magazine said, she agreed to only when it was clear they were writing the article whether she participated or not), she explained her absence by saying she wanted to first listen and learn. Fair enough. Listening was one of her signature traits at Burberry. And according to Fortune, she has slowly been changing the company’s retail culture. (The fact you get an email or text telling you when it’s time for your Genius Bar appointment so you don’thave to hang around and wait? Thank Angela.)

But it’s been more than 16 months, and it’s hard not to think Apple is missing a trick here. Especially if it is interested in casting itself in part as a fashion brand.

To this end, how effective would it be to have Ms. Ahrendts play a public part in the brand’s personalization (personalization being a big thing in fashion), along with Mr. Ive? After all, when it comes to experience and understanding of the style sector, with all its byzantine value systems and preconceptions, not to mention understanding fashion consumers and appealing to them in a very direct way, it’s doubtful anyone else in the company hierarchy comes close.