From two shy youngsters across stealing glances across the room, fashion and technology have become regular lovers. It’s not the first nor will it be the last.

Anyone heard of the names Louis Reard and Jacques Helm? Back in 1946, French engineer Reard and his fashion designer friend Helm worked together and produced what we now know as the modern bikini. Whilst it was a little ahead of its time, it was a breakthrough in fashion and technology as it signalled the start of the modern era where fashion and technology jumped into bed together. The fashion piece has since found its way into the history books and even now, technology and fashion are always linked to one another.

Some might argue that it was an unlikely marriage, fashion people being 'touchy feely' (pardon the vernacular) and technology people are well, 'geekish and logical', based on the broad stereotype of course. However, as both design and technology frontiers have always been driven by the desire for change and variation, this complex and fascinating combination have resulted in many marvels including the fashion accessory that became a pop culture icon, and man's ultimate bewilderment - the Wonderbra.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that our beloved mobile phone found its way into fashion. It was not too long ago that mobile handset manufacturers were squeezing every possible feature and/or technical marvel they had into a mobile phone, except the kitchen sink. This left some handsets looking a little bit like an unsolved Rubik's Cube, but nobody seemed to mind.

These days the major handset manufacturers are now offering seasonal collections, even joint-venturing with well known fashion designers and paying close attention to how it looks and how it feels, rather than the technical features when marketing their products. Some are even holding back the technical and utilitarian features and denying them of technological nourishment in order to offer slimmer, sizeconscious phones; form over function in the good name of fashion. Afterall, fashion has always been about making a personal statement to the world, albeit a little too loudly sometimes.

A while back, Motorola teamed up with fashion duo Dolce & Gabbana to reproduce the iconic RAZR V3 in gold. Nokia also had a brief courtship with Versace, which produced the Versace-branded 7270. While both design houses could be credited for starting partnerships with mobiles, their input was often minimal at best. However, Nokia went on to release their own fashion phones with the L’Amour collection, which boasted sensual textile exteriors and the seamless blend of fashion and technology. It seemed that somewhere along the evolutionary path of the mobile phone, the device had reached the point where it is no longer considered a gadget used by the privileged few with the money and/or technical savoir-faire, but an essential piece of fashion accessory not unlike a watch.

Celebrity endorsements or incidences often added intant glam. Motorola scored big with soccer ace David Beckham, and the association with Beckham’s keen fashion sense and off-field celebrity status. Famous socialite Paris Hilton did wonders for the T-Mobile Sidekick (a phone) by losing it and getting her phonebook of celebrity numbers hacked by the tabloids, and Britney Spears went into rehab with nothing more than a pack of smokes, an energy drink and a Sidekick. Naomi Campbell have often been spotted with a Blackberry, as it probably does the most damage when angrily thrown at her personal assistants. Manufacturers have also seeded their phones to celebrities who attend the Oscars, with limited edition handsets included in the gift bags.

Needless to say, mobiles have also been spotted in a lot of new music videos with Nokia and Motorola often getting quite a fair bit of airtime, immortalising themselves in the glamour of pop culture.

LG, who despite their devotion to the fashion mobile world, never really took off till a sweet little number called ‘Chocolate’ came along. Recently, the Korean outfit has been smitten by Europe in a big way. Milan house Prada sashayed right down the catwalk and into the hearts of LG and produced the LG Prada KE850 phone for their efforts. The sleek black Prada had the slim lines and elegance of an Audrey Hepburn dress. The seamless touchscreen interface found global adoration and commercial success, but was it partly due to the Prada name beside it? Well, the LG Prada collaboration saw the Italian design house’s input not limited to just the exterior of the phone and the usual ‘tack on’ affair, as the black advanced touchscreen interface was actually Prada’s idea to integrate form with function. This was a pretty significant achievement from a partnership that was blindingly absent from preceding efforts from other alliances.

Samsung too wasted no time in the quest to race down the catwalk, getting into bed with the top dogs in design all over the world. In Europe, their partnership with Armani led to the P520, which managed to get a right balance of technology and fashion with its stylish slim frame and build quality. In the US, they engaged Calvin Klein and released the Ultra Edition 12.9 all decked out with fashion wallpapers as well as the inclusion of a matching black leather pouch. They also romanced American fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg to produce 1,000 limited edition phones with a reproduction of an Andy Warhol painting that featured her likeness. The phone also had an external screen that doubled as a mirror for instant “couture” or for quick checks to note if the one sesame seed for lunch had lodged itself between teeth for future snacking.

A little closer to familiar territory, Samsung’s partnership with Bang & Olufsen, the Danish maker renowned for combining aesthetic minimalism with acoustic excellence, has yielded the Serene phone. Whilst it is definitely glamorous, its paltry technical features would have made your current phone look like something from NASA as the Serene spots a prehistoric VGA camera and a miserable 16MB of internal memory. There’s often a price for fashion and glamour and the money parted should serve as a reminder that it was for a statement piece and additional looks of envy.

Denim demagogue Levi’s joined the foray too with a phone of their own to give some street cred to mobile phone designs. Whilst it may not look as impressive as its couture cousins, the megapixel camera, Bluetooth, music and video sharing features packed into a slim candy bar form factor is aimed at the young crowd and priced that way too. Much like the famed 501s, the phone has buttons too and even comes with a chain which is fastened to the jeans to prevent pickpockets and any clumsy loss of phone.

As consumer demand grows for more stylish phones, phone manufacturers are beginning to look at design more seriously. Apart from just outright partnering with design houses, the mobile giants have also begun to invest in more colours and materials for the exterior of the phone. They have also put more money into research for the once overlooked user interface. Fashion houses on the other hand, have put a very firm foot in the door of technology, producing phones that could very well help to push their own staple products and even give them a whole new complimentary product portfolio. Afterall, what goes better with a Prada phone pouch than a Prada phone? Global fashion houses have never been in a better position to capitalise on the next innovation in technology whether it may be flexible display screens that can be wrapped around wrists or wearable technology. They have successfully elbowed their way into the technology space of our lives that have become so indispensable.

Phone manufacturers have continued to progress and better the competition and one another in terms of technological advances, the edge surely has to come from design. Successful brands have balanced the ‘be fashionable’ aspiration along with today’s converging technology for them to stay competitive in the industry and most importantly, relevant in the mind of consumers.

As new technologies inspire and drive new designs, colours and textile materials have found their way into our gadgets, giving them a sleek and stylish look. To think there was a time when we were satisfied with standard chunky mobile phones that had as much sex appeal as a brick! So, as we wait with bated breath on the next big trend on the mobile horizon, we are thankfully assured that fashion and technology will always be linked.

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