Now you can style your phone

HO CHI MINH — Fashion isn’t the only industry subject to the mercurial temperaments of fickle consumers. While clothing designers scramble like mad in order to fashion a cohesive collection for each season’s shows (with the now necessary addition of resort and pre-fall shows), mobile phones companies seemed rather out of step with that world, decreeing a phone or two the must-have of each season.

Nokia recently stepped up their game, creating a line of cell phones with Xpress-on covers that allow every teen and middle-aged tech whiz (and everyone in between) from here to Taiwan to change the look and feel of their phone as soon as they tire of the style.

“Nokia has certainly come a long way since we created the Nokia 8210 in 1999 which was recognized as the first fashion phone,” says Chris Carr, sales vice president of Nokia Southeast Asia Pacific. At the Park Hyatt ballroom in Vietnam’s lovely scenic district (although one might argue that all of Vietnam is lovely and scenic — and they would, of course, be right), Nokia was celebrating not just their chart-topping success in the dynamic world of big mobile business, but also the launch of their latest range of cell phones.

Dubbed the Supernova, the four colorful devices are the company’s response to the popularity of trends that emphasize personalization.

“There is a trend towards making devices more stylish, more personalized and desirable. Mobile phones have become our personal companions, so much so that we cannot leave home without it,” notes Nokia Vietnam general manager Benoit Nalin.

After all, if luxury labels like Goyard can offer buyers (for an added fee) the option to add stripes of their choosing, along with their initials, to the bag’s design, why not a mobile phone that accompanies you to business lunches and parties, Sunday brunches and shopping jaunts?

“More than just voice communication, our mobile phones reflect who we are and tell a lot about our lives through the pictures that we have, the music that we enjoy on the phone, the videos that we capture. They are our confidante, they know everything about us — our secrets, our pride, our embarrassing moments, too!” adds Nalin.

Carr’s remarks mirrored Nalin’s sentiments. “As most of us rely more and more on our mobile phones to stay connected, they increasingly know everything about us and have become a window into our worlds. They are always with us, and our phone has become an extension of ourselves. It has become a reflection of our style,” he says.

Anthropological studies organized by the company have shown that people all over the world share many traits, despite cultural barriers. Women, and even men, are increasingly style-conscious. “I got a chance to spend some time with a guy in China,” explains Daniel Gratiot, Nokia’s senior design manager responsible for the Supernova. “I watched him at work, at home and out with friends.” His experience with the Chinese subject proved that he wasn’t very different from the hipsters sipping Coronas in Soho. “This guy would come home from work, change clothes and then head out to meet with his friends.” To reach out to a market that’s prided itself on mutability, its ability to celebrate one trend one minute and deride it the next, Gratiot realized that being able to change with the target audience was a key element to his future design for the Supernova range.

Gratiot also observed that most consumers required numerous things in a phone (an easy-to-understand, functional interface, SMS and call options, high memory, a high-def camera and internet connectivity) but that they placed a premium on appearances. What can I say? Fashion’s influence has seeped into every adjacent industry in both hemispheres.

This isn’t the first time Nokia has dabbled in changeable covers. “In 1994, Nokia introduced the Nokia 2100 series including the first mobile phone with changeable covers, followed by the Nokia 5100 series in 1998, which featured the first mobile phone with user-exchangeable covers. In 2004, we introduced our first fashion collection called the Distinctly Bold Collection that blended ’20s Art Deco influences with edgy modernist twists. In 2005 and 2006, we introduced the L’Amour Collections using a wonderful mix of contrasts, infusing vintage and modern ethnic influences with luxurious touches of the unexpected,” shares Carr.

But the Supernova range, inspired by such unlikely references as pastel Ray-Bans, a Damien Hirst painting and an image of lavender jellyfish among others, is a step above the rest. Purchase the 7310, a sleek phone with a wide screen and comfortably large keys, and you automatically get two Xpress-on covers etched with 3D designs. “The texture gives it a whole other dimension,” Gratiot acknowledges. Six more front and back cover options will soon be available.

The 7510, a flip phone with a push-to-open side key, boasts a “hidden-until-lit” display. Gratiot seems to have taken the luminescence of jellyfish — the creature’s ethereal glow appears to be a direct influence — and rendered the phone’s cover see-through. Press a button and a digital clock slowly registers underneath the cover. 

But it’s the 7610 that shines the brightest in the Supernova’s playful collection. Along with a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash, TV out for image sharing and an MP3 player, the phone boasts the innovative Theme Colorizer. If you’ve grown weary of your Murakami wallpaper or the photo of your favorite celeb’s upskirt photo (yeah, that’s just how pervs like to roll), simply capture any color (your favorite patchwork Zac Posen skirt, the pallor of your mom’s face once you tell her you’re moving out) and the program applies the hue to your phone’s key illumination and wallpaper. If you are a color Nazi, trust me when I tell you that this phone is your Mein Kampf.

Nokia has learned, after constantly refining upon their phones’ designs, that the future lies in change — to offer consumers individualized options, to allow them to make their phone their own.