Luxury goods companies seems to be realising the potential of Geek fashion. The companies which realised long ago their brands could be extended to more than clothes and bags, have been rushing to embrace the gadgets.

And on the top of their attention are mobiles, which has been a status symbol and part of fashion accessories for some time now. International fashion labels Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Armani are rushing in to release fashionista mobiles. French fashion house Christian Dior, while rumours are rife that luxury crystal specialist Swarovski is all set to follow suit.

Here's a look into these Designer Mobiles.

Porche


The limited edition Porsche Design phone has been made by French company Sagem. The original model name of the Porsche phone is P9521 that comes integrated 2 mega pixel digital camera.

The phone which was released in December last year is made of aluminum. P9521 is designed with a double hinge system, which allows users to open and rotate the phone 360 degrees. The touch-screen phone sports mineral glass on the screen and has a built-in fingerprint scanning device to protect personal data.

Vertu Ascent Ti

Vertu is a British-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury mobile phones. The company, launched in 2000, is an independently run, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia.

The concept of the company is to make mobile phones in the same vein as luxury watch manufacturers like Rolex, IWC and Patek Philippe.



In the past, Vertu has forged partnerships with luxury brands such as Ferrari and jewellery house Boucheron.

Last November saw the launch of the high-end Vertu Ascent Ti in India. Ascent Ti is a quad-band 3G handset with a 3 mega pixel camera with flash.

In Ascent Ti, 'Ti' stands for Titanium, a non-corrosive metal with the highest strength-to-weight ratio, plus the ability to withstand extreme temperatures.

Ascent Ti comes in three colours: Black or Red leather with a Black ceramic pillow, or Brown with a Silver ceramic pillow. The phone has a scratch-resistant Sapphire crystal face made of the same material that is used for the camera lens.

TAG Heuer

Recently, Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer, part of French luxury goods group LVMH, licensed its name to French customised design manufacturer Modelabs for a series of luxury mobile phones.

"The launch of the first TAG Heuer mobile telephone is foreseen for the second half of 2008," the companies said in a joint statement.

Modelabs will collaborate with Tag Heuer for the design, production and marketing of mobile phones under the Tag Heuer brand.

Tag Heuer and the concept design arm of Germany's Porsche have also joined the luxury phones market. And so has French fashion house Christian Dior, while rumours are rife that luxury crystal specialist Swarovski is all set to follow suit.

LG Prada Silver Edition

LG's iPod-rival LG Prada line-up has got its all-new LG KE850 Prada Silver Edition. The model adds to the popular LG KE850 Prada phone.

The Silver LG Prada has received a face lift giving it more of an iPhone look to it and there's no keypad either. With its advanced touchscreen interface, the LG KE850 Prada Silver edition has no need for the standard keyboard: the 3-inch LCD screen, displayed in 16 million colours, automatically adapts to the application that has been activated.

Slightly smaller than the Apple iPhone, the Silver LG KE850 in its specially Prada branded leather case, comes with a range of features that include a 2 mega pixel camera with LED flash, expandable memory and an integrated MP3 player with built-in FM Radio, not forgetting Bluetooth wireless and EDGE technology.