Multi functional design

Allowing a designer to broaden their appeal and customer base, collaborations with multi-national non-design companies give the consumer a greater opportunity to understand both the designer and mass market company. Samantha Docherty reports.

Mobile phones, electrical appliances and white goods look to be the latest 'must have' items on the catwalk.
Tina Kalivas sent Dyson vacuum cleaners humming down the catwalk during her show at Rosemount Australia Fashion Week in May. Alex Perry had models pulling out ball gowns from whirling Electrolux clothes dryers, before putting them on at a launch in Sydney recently. And coinciding with his one-year appointment as Miele's Hong Kong ambassador, designer Dorian Ho wheeled two Miele front-loading washing machines onto the runway of his 'Miele and Me' show at Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in 2005.

Linking up with mass consumer brands, established designers and high-end designer brands are reaching out to a broader market and picking up sponsorship at the same time.

Paid a "six-figure sum" to sign a one-year contract as a company ambassador for Electrolux, Alex Perry says people find it easy to say you get paid money to spruik something, but he needs to believe in the product.

"As a designer I know the demands of caring for the world's most exquisite fabrics. In partnering with Electrolux I've been able to share my experience and expertise in fabric care through extensive road-testing of the Electrolux Iron Aid Dryer in both my studio and home. Electrolux shares my passion for innovation and I'm delighted to be associated with a brand that champions excellence long-term."

Following on from the success of its work with renowned chef Tetsuya, for its cooking category, Electrolux saw opportunity in the area of fabric care by working with a leading designer in the fashion industry.

Trevor Carroll, managing director at Electrolux Australia commented, "Our brand strategy for Electrolux is about working with experts in various fields and taking these learning's to apply to all we do, including product development and design."

Believing Perry's association with the brand will help Electrolux talk to a defined audience - the fashion world, Carroll says Perry is a great fit for the Electrolux brand.

"As an ambassador in the area of fabric care, Alex will work with Electrolux to help with new product developments and provide expert advice for the brand."

No stranger to the art of promotion, Perry has previously put flight attendants from former sponsor Emirates on his catwalk and earlier this year lent his name to ironing. Appearing in Sunbeam's 'Smooth Out Your Style' advertising campaign, customers received an exclusively designed Alex Perry ironing board cover with selected Sunbeam iron or ironing board purchases.

Receiving sponsorship from Sunbeam for his 'Hawaiian Princess' SS07/08 show at RAFW, Perry is not the only designer cashing in on fashion's cachet.

Giving Audi a human face and personality with which customers and the public can identify, Collette Dinnigan has been an ambassador for the German car manufacturer for almost ten years.

According to Anna Burgdorf, Audi Australia's general manager corporate communications, Audi was relatively unknown and esoteric when it first established itself in Australia in a serious way 10 years ago.

"We needed to find a way to communicate to the public what our brand stands for. The ambassador program was established in 1998 and we worked with high profile Australians whose personalities reflected the Audi brand values of sporty, sophisticated or progressive. Clearly Collette fits right in the sophisticated brand value and her amazing attention to details, innate style and luxury product fitted well with Audi."

Receiving sponsorship for fashion parades including her recent catwalk show held at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, Dinnigan has also driven a number of different Audi cars over the years from the A3 to the TT, Cabriolet and Q7.
 "We work together each year to discuss and decide what activities we can do together", adds Burgdorf. "It's a mutual decision about what will work well for both brands."

Akira Isogawa, Bettina Liano and Wayne Cooper all signed up with SunSilk this winter as the faces of its limited edition Fashion Designer Range.

With each designer's creative flair captured in the bottle design inception, shooting of the television commercial and print advertisements, the designers also selected the fragrance that best represented them.

Joking that the thought of having a shower with him might put customers off buying the hair-care products, Wayne Cooper says he thinks his shampoo smells lovely.

"[SunSilk] gave [all three designers] a lot of scents to smell. Mine is hard to describe but I really like it. It's a bit of a floral fruit."

Spending hours looking at graphics for his bottle design and choosing the model for the advertisements, Cooper doesn't think a shampoo hurts in terms of brand alliance.

"Tons of media and millions spent on marketing [means] more awareness of your name and customers recognize the brand; But making sure my own words came across in the press releases [was a challenge] and [SunSilk] wouldn't let me wear my skull rings in the ad."

Kick starting its journey to being seen as a young, fashionable brand, following a re-launch last year, the association with fashion designers allows SunSilk to further connect with consumers who have an insatiable appetite for fashion and all things celebrity according to Briar Taylor, SunSilk's brand manager.

"More than ever, females are obsessed with celebrity and the luxurious lifestyle they lead - including designer clothes. Women love to express themselves and their unique style through their hair and also through fashion. We thought what better way than to combine the two; And by making range a six month limited edition - like each of the designer's fashion collections - it appeals to the notion of a designer's collection being very much of the moment."

For lovers of bling, Philips and Swarovski have teamed up to design sound accessories and storage devices encrusted with Swarovski crystals. Launched in the US in August, designs such as a heart-shaped USB drive necklace or earphones set with one big jewel for each ear, create a unique product proposition for Philips.

If you're a slave to fashion, LG Electronics high-end Prada phone gives a greater range of consumers the opportunity to extend their preference of mobile phone as a style accessory, according to Carli Wilson, LG Electronics Australia's mobile communications marketing manager.

Adding to the list of fashion brands collaborating with handset makers to produce special or limited edition mobile phones, LG Electronics' high-end Prada phone (launched in Europe earlier this year) made its Australasian debut last month.

Enabling LG to further advance its credentials in the development of handsets that appeal to style and design conscious consumers, Wilson says the partnership with the Italian designer brand also allows LG to speak to consumer segments that may not have enjoyed a relationship with the company in the past.

"LG appreciates and recognises the true importance of design and quality to premium mobile buyers. In jointly developing a handset designed to appeal to these luxury brand consumers, we can respond to the consumers' inner desire to find a product to reflect their unique identity. We're now focusing on making this product a success, collaborating on marketing and distribution. Both parties anticipate the opportunity to develop more products together in near future."

Also considering an arrangement with an Italian luxury goods designer, Samsung Electronics is in talks to develop premium goods, such as mobile phones and televisions, with Giorgio Armani.

Samsung spokeswoman Lee Soo-jeong said the electronics company is reviewing the possibility of collaborating with premium brands for its mobile phone business.

"Armani is among the brands we are considering", she said, without naming others.

"However, nothing has been decided."

By Samantha Docherty