Ringing Off the Hook
(MILAN) Giorgio Armani has expanded his consumer lifestyle product offerings, partnering with consumer electronics giant Samsung to create a cellular phone and a luxury LCD television--the first in a series of jointly developed products to be rolled out under the new strategic alliance.
This confirms a news story first reported by The Daily on July 25.
The phone was unveiled this morning at the Armani Teatro prior to the designer's signature collection fashion show. It will be available in select mobile phone stores and Giorgio Armani boutiques in major European countries from November 2007, with expansion to other markets planned for 2008.
Armani will create the design aesthetic and Samsung will provide the technology for the products, in accordance with each brand's historical success. Portable products will be developed for both the signature Giorgio Armani and fashion-forward Emporio Armani collections, while home electronics products will be developed as part of the Armani Casa home interiors lifestyle collection and will be unveiled in January 2008. There are currently 25 Armani Casa stores in 46 countries.
"Today, fashion has expanded to encompass our way of life, not just how we dress, but how we design our home, the hotels we stay in, the car we drive, and the technology we buy," said Giorgio Armani, president and chief executive officer of Giorgio Armani S.p.A., in a statement. "In fact, we make as much of a personal statement with the mobile phones that we carry or the televisions we have in our living rooms as we do with the shoes and bags we wear or the furnishings we choose to place in our homes. These are all lifestyle decisions, where design and performance are the criteria. Samsung has successfully anticipated the growing role for consumer electronics in our lives, while recognizing the importance of self-expression in the development of its products."
The phone, the size of a credit card and a mere 10.5 mm in thickness, has a large 2.6-inch QVGA TFT LCD screen which maximizes the user's visual experience and optimizes the full touch-screen user interface (UI). By adapting a haptical UI, users can feel an immediate mild vibration when they touch icons on the display. Despite its compactness (the phone easily fits in a person's palm), the tri-band phone is loaded with the latest powerful multi-media features. It is equipped with a 3-megapixel camera, a music player supporting various types of music formats, and a full internet browser. Furthermore, the phone contains a MicroSD type external memory slot and comes with a Bluetooth stereo headset. A specially designed Giorgio Armani leather carrying case is also included for protection.
The phone will retail for 650 euros, or $915 at current exchange rates.
The Armani cell phone is just the latest example of designers--of which most have been Italian--partnering with the mass market consumer goods industry to create status-symbol products. Prada currently has a cell phone on the market developed by LG Electronics, while Versus introduced a cell phone-MP3 player with Samsung, and Dolce & Gabbana debuted a gold Motorola MotoRazr V3i phone.
