Fashion Week: S'not Apple

The runway debut of a new collaboration between HP and Vivienne Tam went largely unnoticed last night--and that could be a good thing.

At the end of Tam's Spring 2009 show, some journalists were left wondering whether the much-touted "digital clutch" had been dropped from the program. Turns out, the lightweight laptops, clad in peony-print lacquer, were so portable and blended so well with the fashions that they were almost invisible on the catwalk.

Forgettable fashion-technology partnerships are legion; the results have often been clunky--a motif slapped on a laptop cover--or invisible (it still looks like a black cellphone!). Remember Giambattista Valli's Nokia phone, Roland Mouret's "luxury skins" for Intel laptops? Didn't think so.

One notable exception is the Prada Phone by LG, which generated both buzz and sales last year, despite the debut of the iPhone. The clutch designed with Tam, who is known for her urbane, Eastern-inspired creations, might be another. It's a covetable design--beautiful yet discreet, neither screaming "hard drive" nor cowering under layers of camouflage. HP may actually have something...cool.

Of course, what's inside still matters, and HP isn't yet releasing any specs--or prices. The laptop is supposed to be available in early 2009.

by Sara Clemence

Mac and Say Cheese at Doucette Duvall
Patrick Rises on a Green Tide
Fashion Week Exclusive: Bergdorf's May Get "Posh"
Slow Payments Pinching Small Designers
All Fur Naught
The Offstage Pass
Banking on Buys
Where's Fashion Going? GPS Knows.
Does Colette Bridge the Gap?
How to Freak People Out at Fashion Week
Bleak Chic
Cutting Corners
The Runway Race for Retail
Making Model Moms