Google Glass, Diane von Furstenberg partner on frame collection
Google is trying to take wearable tech in a more stylish direction by collaborating with the Diane von Furstenberg brand for a selection of fashionable (or at least more fashionable) frames for its Google Glass product.
Announced Monday via the Google+Glass blog, the DVF Made for Glass collection will serve up one prescription frame style in five colors and two sunglass shade silhouettes in four colors each.
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FOR THE RECORD
June 5, 12:22 p.m.: An earlier version of this post described the collection as offering five frame styles and eight shades. It actually includes one prescription frame style in five colors and two sunglass shade silhouettes in four colors each.
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We’ve seen images of three of the styles; a translucent low-profile feminine frame in “elderberry” with clear prescription lenses, a smokey-lensed unisex Aviator-style sunglass with gray frames and a futuristic, rimless, mirrored wraparound pair that look straight out of a “Terminator” movie.
The collection, which will be available for purchase starting June 23, is being sold two ways. The modular Google Glass component ($1,500) and frame/shade combinations ($225 for prescription lenses, $120 for sunglasses) will be available a la carte through google.com/glass, which is a good option for someone who already owns a pair but wants to up their frame game.
But the big news here is that in a further effort to get some fashion street cred, Google will be offering bundled deals through luxury e-tailer Net-a-Porter, where a newbie will be able to get the whole shebang for $1,700 (The company is banking on the fact that most Net-a-Porter shoppers will be buying new and not upgrading their frames.) Also on June 23, the original Titanium collection of frames will begin selling through Net-a-Porter’s sibling site for guys, Mr. Porter.
The partnership with Von Fursternberg, who also happens to be the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, is not surprising -- the designer has been an early and enthusiastic supporter of Google’s efforts to tap into the fashion world. In 2010 she was onboard as part of the tech giant’s boutiques.com project, and in 2012 she used Google Glass as part of her spring 2013 New York Fashion Week runway presentation, even hitting the catwalk for the finale sporting the device alongside Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
