The recession, corporate cutbacks and lower demand for big-ticket items are not stopping LG Electronics from expanding its U.S. appliance business.

The South Korean electronics giant this week unveiled a facility in Atlanta that will be used to train engineers, contractors and sales staff how to use its commercial air conditioning products.

LG, which has been gaining U.S. appliance market share as residential customers buy its washing machines, hopes the Atlanta facility, its first commercial training center in the U.S., will help boost sales of heating and air conditioning systems to hotels, hospitals and schools.

LG is the world’s biggest maker of air conditioners.

“Consumers are looking for value,” Michael Ahn, chief executive of LG Electronics North America, said in a short interview at the training center.

“We’re seeing more (appliance) growth at the lower end than the high end” right now, Ahn added. “Total demand will be decreased next year.”

To respond to the need for value, Ahn said LG was offering lower-priced versions of its Tromm washing machine (pictured), with a washer-dryer pair priced as low as $1,200. LG has been selling major appliances in the U.S. for about six years, and caters to the premium market.

The U.S. housing slump and tighter credit has hurt appliance demand. U.S. shipments of major appliances were down about 9 percent for the year to date through late October, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

(Photo: LG Electronics)

Check out how designers at New York’s Fashion Week are using technology for inspiration, on the runway, behind the scenes and for business.

In its most obvious cameo, technology showed up at Vivienne Tam’s Spring 2009 show on Tuesday, where models sashayed down the runway clutching slim, red HP notebook computers instead of evening bags.

The limited-edition computer, which she called a “digital clutch,” featured the Tam collection’s signature red peony print on its cover. It will be available early next year, sometime around the Chinese New Year, Tam told a Reuters reporter backstage before her show Tuesday night.

She added that the peony’s petals on the laptop cover symbolize multi-tasking, which is synonymous with being a woman in today’s tech-oriented society she said.

HP said it’s the first time a fashion designer has partnered with a computer company, though others are teaming up with mobile phone companies.

LG Mobile Phones said on Thursday it is partnering with budding fashion designer Christian Siriano, who made the media spotlight for winning Season Four of Bravo television’s popular reality show “Project Runway”.

At Siriano’s fashion show on Thursday, he will show a scarf designed for LG’s newest phone, the LG Lotus.

Polo Ralph Lauren Corp recently unveiled a mobile phone technology that allows consumers to scan barcodes found in magazine ads and shop from their phones.

Other designer houses, including Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Zac Posen, are now using technology offered by Fashion GPS, which uses global positioning technology to keep track of inventory and samples. DKNY also used a barcode technology for invitations and seating for its fashion show, asking guests to r.s.v.p. on line and then scanning their invites at the show.

But Karan did have some uninvited guests, so maybe the system is still evolving.

Depending on how you look at it, technological advances can both help and hurt our free time. On one hand, it gives us more time to do the things we love, like shopping and going to fashion shows. But it also means we can now work from cocktail parties and black-tie events without toting a clunky computer.

(With reporting by Jan Paschal and Michelle Nichols)

Also in the basket:

Accessories playing big at New York’s Fashion Week

Walgreen sues San Francisco over tobacco sale ban

Designers say “green” fashion sustainable

 Retailers reprogram workers in efficiency push — WSJ (subscription required)

(Photo: Courtesy of HP/Vivienne Tam)