NEW YORK - Zac Posen, often recognized as the most talented designer to recently enter the fashion world, and Nokia, the company that brought design to the mobile phone industry, have teamed up to create an exclusive edition of wireless products for discriminating, fashion-conscious individuals. As part of this collaboration, Nokia will be a sponsor of Zac Posen's fashion show during the 2004 Olympus Fashion Week in New York City. At this show, the Zac Posen Fall 2004 collection will be presented. The collection, titled "Blixen" was inspired by an ice pond, a winter forest and a midnight snowstorm. The initial product of the Zac Posen/Nokia collaboration will be an exclusive edition Nokia 7200 phone enhanced with design elements from the Blixen Collection.

 

Zac Posen first took the design world by storm in 2001, entering the 21st century as one of the most promising emerging fashion talents in the world. One of Posen's early designs remains in the permanent collection of London's prestigious Victoria & Albert Museum, and he is the recipient of numerous honors including being nominated in each of 2002 and 2003 by the Council of Fashion Designers of American's prestigious Perry Ellis Award for Emerging Talent, the Ecco Domani Foundation Award for Young Designers in 2001, and being named a finalist in the international design competition, ENKAmania in 2002. At a time when art, music, fashion, design and architecture are converging, Zac is at the very center of the new culture.

 

"Nokia always brings great designs to its phones, and it is an honor to add fashion to an already elegant phone - the Nokia 7200 handset," said Zac Posen. "I have designed the Fall/Winter 2004 Collection for the urban hip, the very kind of person who will see this exclusive edition Nokia phone as a must-have."

 

Much like Zac Posen, Nokia transformed itself from a Finnish conglomerate virtually unknown outside of Europe in the early 1990's to become the world's leading maker of mobile phones by the end of the decade. Much of this success can be traced to the design innovations that Nokia brought to the wireless industry over that time. During the early 1990's, in the infancy of the mobile phone, practically all handsets were square and black. Then Nokia brought color to the mobile phone, and the perception of the wireless phone quickly changed from being a techno-gadget to being a fashion accessory. Over the course of the decade, Nokia introduced user-changeable color covers, allowing customers to instantly change the look of their phone, and unveiled a number of innovative form factors and unique materials to cement Nokia's leadership position in wireless design. A myriad of design honors, including the Radius Trophy for the design team of the year, Red Dot awards and the IF Silver Award have been received by Nokia in recognition of its world-class design team.

 

"Design is a fundamental aspect of everything we do at Nokia, not only the well-known phones, but even our advertising, packaging and mobile enhancements all have identifiable characteristics that make them uniquely Nokia," said Duncan Burns, senior designer for Nokia and team lead for the Nokia 7200 phone design. "We're excited to have the opportunity to work with a celebrated designer like Zac Posen, who brings such incredible energy and passion to his work. The combination of Nokia's signature design with Zac Posen's dramatic flair will result in a highly desirable device unlike anything available today."

 

About Nokia

Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia is dedicated to enhancing people's lives and productivity by providing easy-to-use and secure products like mobile phones, and solutions for imaging, games, media, mobile network operators and businesses. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on five major exchanges.

 

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