Samsung releases haute couture edition Galaxy Z Flip4

Samsung has announced a collaboration with Parisian haute couture house, Maison Margiela, to create a special edition of the newest member of the Galaxy family, the Galaxy Z Flip4 Maison Margiela Edition.

“Samsung and Maison Margiela both believe in breaking with convention and allowing people to celebrate their individuality, and this is no exception. With this collaboration, which combines groundbreaking technology and a unique design, we want you to be able to express your true authentic selves and celebrate what makes you unique,” said Stephanie Choi, EVP & CMO of Mobile experience Business at Samsung Electronics.

Radical design 

The Maison Margiela special edition see the haute couture brand’s iconic design philosophy extended to many aspects of the Galaxy Z Flip4 — from the phone itself to its UX, covers and packaging.

Samsung say they achieved Maison Margiela’s signature solid white color with a matte finish, which was “weaved” into the Galaxy Z Flip4 smartphone, with a drop of grey to create the optimal shade of white. The phone also embraces Maison Margiela’s décortiqué technique – which strips back an object’s outer layers to expose its core – by featuring fine, translucent lines which signify the internal circuits of the phone. Obviously, we’ve all seen this idea recently courtesy of the Nothing Phone, but this is more subtle. 

A completely new UX design, including wallpaper artworks and icons, has been tailor-made for the Galaxy Z Flip4 Maison Margiela Edition. “The paintbrush artwork was designed with an advanced 3D modelling technique to capture the texture of a rough brush stroke,” says Samsung via a press release. Interestingly, the inverted phone also captures the scanning motion of an X-ray to create a see-through look.

As you may expect with a high fashion collaboration, accessories have been well thought out – the special edition foldable comes with two iconic phone cases. There’s a leather cover that reflects the house’s bianchetto technique, which reduces an object down to the simple beauty of a white canvas and its four stitches emblem, which signifies anonymity. It’s overpainted to create a unique texture to act like a canvas which could change over time. The second cover is simpler – a spin on Maison Margiela’s emblematic numeric coding ring. 

Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Maison Margiela Edition will be available in select markets including China (Hong Kong), France and Korea, from December 1. To date, Samsung hasn’t announced the exclusive phone’s pricing – with the standard model starting at $899 / £849, we don’t imagine it’ll be cheap…

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