Meet next year’s status stroller: the Orbit Infant System. With a price tag of $899, it’s poised to compete with today’s hot designer strollers – the once unthinkably expensive $729 Bugaboo Frog and $749 Stokke Xplory – for the title of tot-transporter of choice for brand-conscious parents.

Coming out in December, the Orbit is an infant car seat, car base, and stroller, all in one. It’s the brainchild of Joseph Hei and Bryan White, both of whom studied design at Stanford University and worked for the design firm IDEO before coming up with the idea for the Orbit in 2002.

After Mr. White became a father and Mr. Hei an uncle three years ago, they found themselves dissatisfied with the quality and appearance of the car seats and strollers on the market. They decided to develop their own model for a stylish and easy-to-use combination stroller/car base/car seat, and worked with industrial designer Christopher Loew – another IDEO alumnus – to create prototypes for the design.

Encouraged by the feedback they received from parents who tested the prototypes, the three founded Orbit Baby Incorporated (originally called Groove Designs Incorporated). They showed off the Orbit Infant System at a press event in New York last week.

“We’re trying to make things that will look good in people’s lives and fit in a BMW or an Audi,” Mr. Hei said. The stroller, complete with cup holders and adjustable handles for people of any height, folds up and can fit into the trunk of any automobile. The car seat, meanwhile, fits into both the stroller and the car base and can be rotated and locked into any angle. All three parts will be sold together at midsize and specialty stores. Because the car seat can hold only babies up to 22 pounds, Orbit is also designing a toddler car seat – for babies up to 60 pounds – that will snap into the original car base and stroller.

Addressing the product’s price, Mr. Hei said: “Most dads spend a lot more money and have nicer golf clubs, for instance, than they do necessary childhood products.”

The era of the expensive designer stroller officially began in 2002, when the Dutch-made Bugaboo Frog was introduced to the American market. That year, it appeared on “Sex and the City” as the character Miranda’s babycarrier, and soon the orange stroller was ubiquitous on city streets from the Upper East Side to the West Village to Park Slope. Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Heidi Klum, and Debra Messing have been photographed pushing the strollers. Bugaboo plans to introduce a $2,000 limited-edition, leather-lined version of the stroller in the fall.

The space-agey Danish Stokke Xplory, priced $20 higher than the Bugaboo, arrived on the American market last fall. The Xplory, which elevates the child about 30% higher than most other strollers, and which features a telescoping, adjustable handle, seems to appeal to men – much like the Dyson vacuum, which it somewhat resembles in design – Russell Crowe has been seen toting his son in the Xplory.

Meanwhile, the British Silver Cross, currently priced at $2,800, has been the stroller of choice for the well-heeled since 1877; celebrities such as Madonna, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Gwyneth Paltrow (who apparently has several strollers) are owners.

The top-of-the-line Maclaren stroller favored by many New York City parents, the Techno XT, is priced at a relatively modest $299.

What do New York City children’s store owners make of the designer stroller trend? Some are skeptical. “I think the Bugaboo and Stokke are just pashmina strollers – just a passing trend,” said Elissa Jane Nastel, owner of the children’s store Urban Monster in Brooklyn. Ms. Nastel used to carry the Bugaboo Frog at her store but stopped stocking it after trying it with her own child and finding it difficult to use in the city. “To get in the subway I had to have two guys help me carry it up and down,” she said.

Others were more positive about the latest designer strollers, however. “The Bugaboo is definitely a status item, but it’s also very practical. It’s excellent for maneuverability, comfort for the child and for the parent,” said Frank Demato, the manager of the children’s store Albee’s on the Upper West Side, which carries the Bugaboo Frog. He added of the Bugaboo that while some customers “say they have to have it because a friend has it, others just come in looking for a stroller that works for them” and decide on the Bugaboo.

Ari Tavasi, manager of Planet Kids of 86th Street, did not see an immediate end to the status stroller trend. “I think we’re going to see it more and more,” he said. “People want something different and extraordinary. They want luxury items.”

What should New York parents look for when buying a stroller? “They should look to their lifestyles first,” said Mr. Tavasi. “If they are very on the go, they should look for a stroller that is easy to collapse and lightweight, that’s easy for them to handle.” Ms. Nastel agreed: “Pick something that’s really functional, something that fits in and out of your door, something that collapses easily, something that will fit in the bag of a cab.”

Ms. Nastel added a final criterion: “Pick a stroller that you won’t freak out about if it gets stolen. Strollers have been getting stolen a lot – especially the most expensive ones.”