Since I am not much of a fashion aficionado I was quite surprised when I learned from a Wall Street Journal article by Jessica E. Vascellaro that RIM just sponsored a fashion show in NYC for emerging designers. Two nights ago RIM co-sponsored the Gen Art fashion show along with T-Mobile USA. RIM has also sponsored a similar event in Los Angeles last year and plans to sponsor fashion shows in Chicago and Los Angeles this year.
RIM, which has about nine million users world-wide, sees sponsoring fashion shows as a way to reach a new audience as the market for enterprise email devices matures. “The events are great opportunities to showcase BlackBerry to young, connected trendsetters, says RIM spokesperson Tenille Kennedy”
Now my favorite part of the Wall Street Journal article that discusses the fashion shows is this:
“…models in skin-tight cocktail dresses and high heels walked around with trays of red, blue and gold BlackBerry Pearl devices, showing off features like the camera phone’s megapixels and the BlackBerry instant-messaging service before the show began. “
I am curious if this is the new RIM that is targeting the young crowd. They seem to committed to changing their image as a business device. There is nothing like strutting out models with BlackBerry’s to get the point across. Check out the full article on the WSJ online
