We all know that Glass is kind of a big deal for Google right now. Or whatever. The #IfIHadGlass explorer program is going strong, and the product is attempting to prove its usefulness in a bunch of different markets. In fact it may be starting to feel overblown and even tiresome. But if Google is going to bank on this product in ways that we can imagine (targeted advertising) and ways that we can’t (Skynet?) they’re probably not gonna let up until Glass is everywhere. Even high fashion.
A 12-page spread in Vogue’s September issue is just one of the ways to know that Glass has come for haute couture. As the NYTimes reports, the top tiers of the Glass team are composed largely of women, and lead industrial designer Isabelle Olsson is one employee trying to make Glass a must-have accessory. She told the Times:
Most of the people who stop me on the street are women. Women have a different reaction than when they see some dude wearing it. It makes a difference seeing it on me.
Olsson has worked to have Glass represented at Fashion Week and has collaborated with designers like Diane von Furstenberg to see Glass strutted down runways. Von Furstenberg told the Times, “I think to wear Glass is to show that you are engaged, you are current, you are open to new things.” Can Glass go from the fashion stage to the national consciousness? And will it be viewed as a luxury item or a productive investment? It’s unclear how much Glass will cost when it is released to the public, but developers and explorers were asked to pay $US1,500.
Whether or not fashion is Glass’s strongest area, it is clearly a priority for Google, and Olsson told the Times that features like expanded apps and prescription lenses will make the product appeal to a wider audience. But major newspaper and magazine articles involve major access, and given that Google has closely controlled every aspect of Glass’s release, it can’t be a coincidence that the press is getting access to information about Glass as it relates specifically to fashion. Google wants us all strutting our stuff and we can’t wear just anything. [NYTimes]