Something that got me thinking this week was a random encounter with the Ken Blakeslee who arranged the Cool and Connected gadget fashion show at the World 3GSM Congress in Cannes back in 2004.  Ironically I was there at that event and managed to blag my way from a standard pass to a Gold members pass by going to this event.  But that’s another blog post waiting to get out one day.  But it did make me wonder can a gadget be a fashion accessory today.  It certainly looked back in 2004 that it could become the next big thing in Fashion but today we just don’t see many gadgets or fashion gadget mixes in women’s magazines unless they are pink or bling in adverts.  They don’t seem to be an integral part of catwalks or high end fashion design.  Yet we still see things on I Want One of Those or Firebox such as beenie hats with integrated headphones, led umbrellas and so on.  But does this mean it’s a small market and niche or could it become broader and more widespread as a form of every day fashion.

Would you class your phone as a fashion accessory or a necessity?  After all we all love great design and usability.  Why do people buy Apple products, is it for fashion or is it a necessity.  I fail to believe it’s just for it’s functionality as there are so many other products out there these days doing similar to the ipod for example.   So maybe it is a fashion product of today, just as back in 2003 Nokia with all it’s different covers became a fashion product and not just a phone.

If there is indeed this intrinsic link between fashion and technology what companies are getting it right – making the link between fashion and technology seamless? I think Apple is up there at the moment and Nokia definitely used to have this status, but there still seem to be few and far between that really do get it right.  So what would make products cooler and more fashionable to you. Another interesting example of fashion & technology is Knomo bags, they too mix high end leather bags with the tech industry targetting bloggers and business women carrying laptops.  However to me this is slightly different, but should it be counted in the fashion & technology area, I don’t see these bags being featured in the women’s fashion magazines, but should they?  After all they are fashionable with those high price tags that fashion mags love.

Maybe the question today should actually be what is fashion?  Is it mainstream or is it that desire to wear what someone else is seen to be wearing, be that on the catwalk or even just on the highstreet.  Does my twitter bird umbrella count?  Or is that just so uncool that I should never be allowed out with it on a rainy day!?

The other side of this of course is around the question of is there such a thing as a male and female gadget… well there’s a question for you.  Is fashion genderized (of course it is), and for that matter can gadgets as fashion items therefore be generized or gender specific… from interface to packaging?  Personally I’d say that gadgets can be aimed at a specific gender, age group or usage scenario, I wouldn’t say that all gadgets are male or female for example that would just be foolish but there are examples of where gadgets are designed for specific uses or genders.
What role does fashion play in the design of technology?
And finally do you agree with recent Microsoft research that states that nearly half the nation regard technology as important as fashion?

OK I think that’s enough questions… a thought provoker for a Monday Morning!