Influx

The announcement that Prada and LG will team up to create a new phone, confirms that for many, the mobile phone is now officially a fashion accessory.

While Motorola and Nokia have been aware of this for a long-time, they have been reluctant to partner with outsiders to make this happen. Motorola did do a one-off limited edition with Dolce and Gabbana, but nothing else.

When the world’s most famous fashion house makes a phone, it suggests that the technology arms race is done.

Today, there are few technical difference between phones, they all work and do more or less the same thing. This is now a style game, so we watch the technology guys step to one side as the designers take-over.

It’s not suprising to see LG play this game. It takes a bold challenger to vision a category re-defining collaboration, one that could leapfrog the brand from also-ran to major player status.

It will be interesting to see who else jumps into this new zone between technology and fashion.

After phones, digital cameras and MP3 players, must surely be next.