KEY POINTS:
Forget about hats or gloves - because this summer's hippest accessory will be much more high-tech than your average sun hat.
Everybody knows that mobile phones have become status symbols of a sort. And many of us now carry various modish gadgets around, whether they be laptops, music players, mobiles or some sort of navigation system. But now it seems there is a movement afoot to lure more female shoppers into buying even more gadgets: cameras, portable DVD players, tiny MP3 players as necklaces and even little machines that measure how many steps you've taken during the day and therefore how many calories you've burned.
And to do this, cunning electronics manufacturers are producing something that's been described as "haute tech".
This movement towards prettier gadgets probably started with the Apple company. Their computers and music players - those ubiquitous iPods and the attractive Mac laptops - have always been the best-looking. That, and the fact that all those black-clad graphic designers, photographers and film-makers go on about their Macs all the time, have made Apple one of the coolest brands around.
Clearly other manufacturers have taken note of this because now high tech is moving even further into the realms of high fashion.
Most obviously this is happening with various collaborations, the sorts of partnerships where chic meets geek.
Big electronics companies are enlisting the aid of established fashion brands to make their gadgets look not just prettier, but downright trendy.
One of the latest examples: the luxury Prada phone. Korean electronics giant LG invited the Italian fashion house into their factory and the result is a sleek little black phone that combines above-average looks with advanced technology, like a touchscreen facility (this means you simply touch the screen to navigate around it). The iPhone, the mobile made by Apple that has had fans literally queuing at the gates of the factory in the United States (and which is not yet available in New Zealand), uses similar technology. Gadget reviewers are suggesting these two new releases will be some of this year's best sellers worldwide.
But just as ugly rock stars get to date hot models, it isn't the first time this kind of love-match has occurred. While you may already have heard of laptop bags and phone-holders designed by Louis Vuitton and Gucci, Motorola has had a Dolce & Gabbana phone in the past, Nokia did a glitzy Versace number with an appropriate gold leaf motif and has also used American designer Zac Posen to make its high-end cellphones more attractive to followers of fashion.
Here in New Zealand our very own Trelise Cooper has just designed a phone purse to accompany the pink Nokia 6101 phone, with money from sales going toward breast cancer research, and in the past Zambesi has come up with black leather holders for Nokia phones as well as customising one of the phones which were distributed to fashion show guests.
Overseas, other recent geek-meets-chic moments included designer Luella Bartley making Sony Walkmans and phones the accessory of choice in her recent runway parade, British designer Giles Deacon collaborating with Intel to come up with designs on a laptop, Sky TV boxes being redesigned by the likes of Gareth Pugh in Britain, Hewlett-Packard sponsoring three shows at New York Fashion Week and having those designers come up with accessories for them in return, and another couple of British designers making techy accessories: rising star Christopher Kane designed four handbags for British electronics chainstore Comet, complete with lots of compartments for gadgets, which will be raffled off for charity, and cult label Maharishi created a limited edition, hand-embroidered laptop case. And this month, in possibly the strangest pairing you could imagine, avant garde fashion label Issey Miyake teamed up with Dyson, the designer vacuum cleaner specialist. Together they came up with a themed fashion show at Paris Fashion Week that saw models arriving on the runway, after popping out of what looked the yellow hose of a giant vacuum. The clothes featured elements of designer James Dyson's machines and a special hand-held vacuum, the futuristic looking DC 16, was designed using Miyake's colours and are available at the likes of Noel Leeming.
So why is this happening? Is it just a clever marketing ploy? Or is there something deeper, and perhaps geekier, going on?
Have women finally decided to start collecting crazy gadgets the way that nerdy guys have traditionally done?
Much as we hate to admit it, this is quite possible. Figures from overseas suggest that more females are buying electronica than ever before. In Britain a poll found that women were spending nearly £200 ($552) a year on gadgets, only£30 less than blokes. In the US a shocking survey by the Consumer Electronics Association concluded that more women would prefer a high-definition TV to a one-carat diamond ring.
And another survey, this time by Sony Ericsson, reported that women spend an average of US$478 ($644) per year on technology compared to a mere US$74 on shoes. Crikey!
Apparently, this is why consumer electronics companies are wooing the fashion industry.
Then again it could just be a matter of more appreciation for better design. Sure, once upon a time if you wanted to "feminise" a digital camera or a phone, all you had to do was colour it pink and maybe add a bit of sparkle. But now what a modern girl wants isn't necessarily Barbie-pink.
She wants something that's lightweight and small so it fits in her purse, that's easy to use so she doesn't need to read a 200-page manual to figure out what all the buttons are for, and that also looks good. Hence, the super-slim digital cameras in pretty shades, those teeny pastel coloured iPod Nano music players and the new BlackBerry Pearl and BlackBerry Curves, phone and email devices that are smaller, more rounded and colourful than their macho predecessors.
Finally, to get some closure on this subject, your Viva spies headed to the nearest Dick Smith and Bond & Bond stores to ask the sales people their opinions on female buying patterns.
"Girls still like the pink stuff," says one young chap off-handedly.
"Women still seem to care more about looks than technical specifications," said another fellow, putting it more politely.
Conclusion: female consumers are still not overly interested in gigabytes, megabits, velocity or characters per second. But they are interested in ease of use, good looks and portability.
Which isn't about being pink and sparkly. It's about good design.
WIN IT!
We've got a slim, red Fuji Finepix Z10 to give away. Valued at $350, this fashion-friendly digital camera with its designer curves and colours, makes it easy to take pictures and then share them online. To be in the draw, write your name, address and phone number on the back of an envelope or postcard and send to Fuji Finepix Giveaway, Viva, NZ Herald, PO Box 3290, Auckland. Entries close October 31. Winner announced November 7.
