Its not a weird design at all. In fact these days - its is the normal design - headphone cable reaching your ear looped around your neck is far easier and less messy than cables hanging straight down from the ear in front of you - which gets snagged by things in your pocket or weighs down the ear buds etc.

And with the looped around your neck design - you can take it of from the ears and let is hand down around your neck - you don't have to pocket it unlike the straight ones.