Fashionable and Tech Savvy?

Fashion designers are embracing the age of technology. They realize that with the advent of the internet and trendy new gadgets, they can broaden the scope of advertising and make it tremendously simpler to purchase their clothes.

The iPhone, probably the trendiest gadget on the market, has found plenty of ways to target fashionistas and tech savvy individuals alike. The iPhone has replaced chic wristlets, tennis bracelets, and cute mini-pets to become the most coveted fashion accessory of the year.

But have you ever thought of spending $1000 on a cell phone case? Apparently someone has. Japan's phone company SoftBank has released a line of cases hand crafted and designed to look like a samurai, with a "famous warrior's characteristics". They're made of laquer with gold specks - does that make the significant price tag worth it?


Softbank's Japanese Texture (In Japanese)

- Major fashion labels are also cashing in on this iPhone craze. Chanel debuted their app which allows fashion techies to view the latest runway show.
- Style.com's app now makes Fashion Week almost instantly available to the general public by streaming videos from the shows to your phone. They even made Fashion Week's "Fashion's Night Out" accessible to the entire nation, making it possible to see what stores participated, along with events and celebrity appearences. A perfect app for your fashion week itinerary!

-Seventeen Magazine makes it easy to find and buy clothes by allowing consumers to search their app by product, trend, or price and even reserves final selections at the store closest to you.

Technology in Starring Role at NY Fashion Week

And the iPhone isn't the only mobile phone making a splash off the runway. Microsoft Windows new mobile phones, available October 6, will give you the opportunity for designer backgrounds from Diane von Furstenberg, Vera Wang, Isaac Mizrahi, Rock & Republic, and Ron Arad.

Bloggers Find a Place in Fashion

The number of blogs on the internet has long surpassed a million, even 100 million. That doesn't mean that every blogger has achieved star status, or even notability. But apparently a few bloggers in the fashion blogosphere have found a place among the "New York Fashion Week royalty".

The tiny Tavi Gevinson, 13-year-old blogger with a huge following, found herself front row at the Marc Jacobs show - and I must say I am quite envious. She skipped school and headed to New York to mingle and play paparazzi with the elite of the fashion world. Her blog documents her trip.

Tavi Gevinson's Style Rookie

Better yet, beyond fashion week, she has gone from average teenage blogger to become a muse herself. She was inspiration for the designers of Rodarte who debuted their line on Tuesday.

Fashion's Secret Helpers

Headlines Make Fashion

Never before has fashion been made so accessible to the general public. Internet, print media, and television have all made it possible for people to be able to appreciate what it takes to design and model fashion. Project Runway is just one television show that openly displays the competitive nature that is designing. Here is a recap of this weeks episode: Episode 5 of Season 6, "Fashion Headliners".

The challenge this week was to design something, anything, out of newspaper. The designers, most of them anyway, stepped up and met the challenge. The guest judges this week were Tommy Hilfiger and Eva Longoria Parker.

Christopher created a gown with a full and feathery skirt, complete with armor-like plated bodice. Althea's extremely wearable cocktail dress took on a single repeated picture, fanned and shaped to create a stunning pattern.

The winner was Irena with a trench coat that Tommy Hilfiger deemed in line with the greats, stating that it looked like "Coco Chanel meets Yves St. Laurent meets Givenchy in the '60s and '70s." For a newspaper coat I'd say that's a pretty big statement, perhaps going a tiny bit overboard.

Now for those who didn't quite make the cut. Who said "auf wiedersehen" Thursday night?

Johnny pulled out what Heidi states makes her look "like she's going to work. Like work, work." For those of you who didn't get the quite so subtle, or not so subtle, hint, what she really means is that she looks like a hooker. Johnny then starts in with a sob story about how his original design was destroyed by a steaming accident - in reality, Tim Gunne just didn't like it. This is where Nic decides to declare Johnny a liar...

And then the judges decide to tear his design apart. What Nic calls a punk dress, most see as a prison stripe look. I think it is somewhat reminiscent of a stripy "punk" dress Jeffrey Sebelia designed in Season 3 - only not nearly as well constructed, even in newspaper.

In the end, Johnny says "auf wiedersehen" and Nic goes back to his competition, only to bad mouth Johnny. Johnny has been kicked off, why is it necessary to continue to trash talk? But, surprisingly (and uncharacteristically) Tim Gunne joins in! This is a side of Tim I would not like to see again...

Who do you think the winner (or loser) should have been? What do you think of Johnny's "little white lie"? Tim Gunne's "slip of the tongue"?