Three-Ring Circus

The must-have accessory for Milanese fashion designers? Personally branded mobile phones. Over the past two years, Prada collaborated with LG Electronics to produce a sleek cell, Dolce & Gabbana unveiled its MotoRazr V3i for Motorola, and Versace created a Versus-branded phone–MP3 player with Samsung. The latest to enter the fray: Giorgio Armani. In November his credit card–size Samsung caller—tricked out with an LCD screen, camera, music player, Bluetooth headset and leather case—made its European debut. The price? About $920. According to the designer, the phone is worth every penny. “We make as much of a personal statement with the mobile phones that we carry or the televisions we have in our living rooms as we do with the shoes and bags we wear or the furnishings we choose to place in our homes,” Armani said in a statement. The phone hits U.S. shores in the spring, with an Armani-Samsung LCD TV due next summer.

Photo: Donato Sardella