Google Glass Graces the Runway at New York Fashion Week

For those of you not in NYC, Fashion Week takes over the city twice a year, and these runway shows are huge productions. Lots of money & time goes into not only the clothes, but also the runway events themselves - especially with the major designers like this chick Diane von Furstenberg (wife of Barry Diller, founder / CEO of web giant IAC). Lots of celebrities show up, and photos from the events show up all over the press. Hardly the place I'd expect to see Google Glasses and Sergey.

Which is why this is so interesting. Seems Google is making a push for Glasses to be "hip", and not just a toy for us geeks and hackers. Not only did Sergey sit on the front row, but the models & designers wore Glasses during the show, and Sergey walked with the designers at the end. This last bit is a rare thing for any of the regular celebrity attendees to do, much less Sergey Brin who I doubt has ever been to a runway show before.

Think of it like Sergey attending a major opera or orchestra performance, and then being brought up on stage at the very end when the conductor / singer / director is giving their final bow.

Google Glass are the least conspicous item in the outfits! Seriously, they've done a really nice job of slimming them down. I walked by Sergey in Palo Alto last week and barely even noticed that he was wearing them.

For anyone wondering if there's any precedent for this sort of thing outside of movies and video games, then the answer is yes. In the Industrial/Cybergoth subcultures (and before that Raver culture), which have taken a great deal of inspiration sci-fi and art by Geiger, it's something you've been seeing for roughly 15 years. It's also something you'll see in Anime/Cosplay circles, and more recently, in Steampunk.

Edit: Fashionable Googler:

https://plus.google.com/+JennyMurphy/posts

End of the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...

The thought occurred to me that this is a really weird situation for a technology to be in.

Google Glass exists in a kind of public beta. We know it's coming, we've seen some impressive stuff with it, we know it could be huge or a flop. It's possible to buy a pair right now if you really want, but it's not "ready". What other products have been released this way?