Can supermodels make Google glasses cool?

The tech giant teams up with revered designer Diane von Furstenberg to try and take the geek out of geek-chic

Google co-founder Sergey Brin and fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg, both wearing Google's new computerized glasses, appear together at New York Fashion Week on Sept. 9.
(Image credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Can Google conquer the runway? The California search giant isn't exactly synonymous with the glitz and glamour of New York Fashion Week, so onlookers were understandably surprised when Google's computerized glasses found their way onto the faces of models during Diane von Furstenberg's show over the weekend. The wearable computers, which run on Android and use a built-in camera to record what the wearer sees, were used to create a documentary called DVF Through Glass, which will be released on the fashion house's Google+ page Thursday. Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who walked arm-in-arm with von Furstenberg after the show, said, "Beauty, style, and comfort are as important to [Project Glass] as the latest technology." Can supermodels help Google take the geek out of geek-chic, or will it take a lot more to make the headsets actually look cool?

Give Google credit for trying: "High fashion it's not," says Evan Clark and Alexandra Steigrad at Women's Wear Daily, but you have to hand it to the company for at least trying to "reach beyond its core." Plus, Google and DVF might not be such strange bedfellows at all— "both are known for their willingness to experiment," for starters. In a lot of ways, combining fashion with tech wizardry is a "natural fit."

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