Sunday, October 3, 2010

High Fashion and the Kindle

I just discovered that Diane von Furstenberg, who - in case you don't know - is one of leading American fashion designers, now makes a line of Kindle cases. You can see one of them in the picture on the left.

In my opinion, this is a great sign. Even though the Kindle has many functions, it is first and foremost a reading device. If a leading fashion label think it makes sense to create a line that caters exclusively to the owners of electronic readers, this means that there are enough people out there who see reading as cool and fashionable.

American entertainment industry consistently markets reading as frumpy, unattractive and old-fashioned. In order to make people see brainless TV shows and stupid Hollywood movies as the only valid form of entertainment, mass media have done their best to present reading in this unflattering way. Now, extra efforts will need to be made to convince young people that there is nothing shameful and uncool about reading. This is especially challenging for young women. I spent years learning to be comfortable with being publicly bookish. So if a designer Kindle clutch makes it easier for young women to accept their inner reader, then that's definitely a great thing.

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