Vivienne Tam Teams Up With HP On New Laptop

HP and New York City-based fashion designer Vivienne Tam have partnered to create a new laptop—the HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition—which was released in January. In a press release from HP, this stylish piece of technology—designed specially for the modern woman on the go—is described as "the world's first 'digital clutch'". This collaboration represents the first time a computer company has teamed up with a celebrated fashion designer. With Tam's design on the exterior and HP's hardware on the inside, the laptop encompasses both the portability of a mini computer and the appearance of a fashion accessory.

The top of the HP Vivienne Tam Special Edition notebook features purple and pink peony flowers on a deep red background. The design is carried over inside the laptop, underneath the keypad. An embroidered storage sleeve was also created to complement the computer, protecting it while it is being carried as a clutch. Tam's design—inspired by her signature "China Chic" style—blends Asian and Western cultures, antiquity and modernity, technology and fashion. The designer's goal was to come up with a design scheme that would evoke the feeling of peace and tranquility of a garden. The peony is a symbol of prosperity, good fortune and happiness in Chinese culture. Tam also chose the peony because of its beauty and the fact that it has many layers of unfolding blossoms, paralleling the multiple layers of a woman's life. Her concept is further represented by the Chinese symbol for double happiness, which is imprinted upon the enter key on the laptop's keyboard. Now that's attention to detail!


To promote the new product, in September HP partnered with Glam.com to launch a fully integrated virtual experience to inspire fashionable women around the world to discover design inspiration online. The interactive campaign—available at www.tech-chic.com—includes a virtual catwalk, a designer tour hosted by Tam, and a "design bot" gadget that encourages users to adorn their own computers with wallpaper, icons and a screensaver, all designed by Tam.