Today In Mindless Extravagance:Introducing The Diorphone

Apparently, the folks at Christian Dior are unbothered by the economic slowdown that has most American companies quaking these days. To prove it, tonight they will be officially unveiling the Diorphone which they designed in-house and will be available next month in Dior Boutiques and select watch and jewelry retailers for a mere €3,500 which would be about $5,100 at current exchange rates - chump change, really, for the Russian/Arab billionaire types it is aimed at.
Or should we say their wives/girlfriends/mistresses/spoiled daughters? Embossed with Dior's signature "cannage" pattern, the phone replaces the usual menu icons on its touchscreen interface with the house's signatures like a tiny Lady Dior handbag, for example. Honestly, this phone looks too girly even for most of the gays, in our humble opinion.
One interesting innovation is a miniature "twin" phone called "My Dior" that can be clipped to an easily accessible spot and used as an extension when the phone rings and is buried at the bottom of your great big Dior bag.
It also doubles as a mirrored compact.
See? Ultra-girly.
We can't help wondering that if tech-savvy Hedi Slimane were still at Dior Homme a more masculine version would also be introduced. The wireless twin extension is actually an interesting innovation, and stems from the fact that the folks at Dior have developed the phone's design themselves rather than turning to one of the major manufacturers like Giorgio Armani (Samsung) or Prada (LG) did.
As in the cases of those other designer models, however, we find it unlikely that any American carriers will support the Diorphone, leading to a situation like Prada's where it is not officially sold in the U.S. (not even in Prada stores) and only available in unlocked versions from independent electronics retailers who may not be all that jazzed about selling a $5,100 phone with no discounts.
Dior CEO Sidney Toledano seems sure that mobile phones should reflect the more luxurious mindsets of their owners, yet we wonder whether even the wealthy will be willing to spend such a sum for a tech item with a short lived obsolescence.
Oh who are we kidding? These are people who think nothing of spending at least an equivalent amount on a dress with an even shorter life span.
Of course, if $5,100 still sounds cheap to you, there will be a diamond studded version for $27,000 (€18,000).
Perhaps they should just be sent directly to Saudi Arabia.
Dior Brings Luxury to the Cell Phone (WWD)

Comments

[Kori Ellis]

Wow they are cute but I don't know if they are five thousand dollars worth of cute! As for the $27,000 version - I'm not sure I'd pay that much for phone no matter how much money I had.

[ChicHERE]

The phones are beautiful!