Many a couture designer might frown on Google's trademark primary colors (what do they say about putting yellow next to red again?), but that doesn't mean that Mountain View doesn't have some fashion sense. To commemorate this month's New York Fashion Week in midtown Manhattan, Google has introduced a new set of themes for its iGoogle personal homepage service, created by some of the biggest names in high style.
The 19 designers and labels included in the special edition of iGoogle Artist Themes (a project originally launched in May) include Gucci, Betsey Johnson, Vivienne Tam, Kate Spade, Burberry, and my personal favorite--funky Brazilian flip-flop line Havaianas. Several other fashion labels, like Diane von Furstenberg and Marc Ecko, were already on iGoogle as part of the original Artist Themes launch.
Google also launched nine more themes created by musicians, including Bob Dylan, Gnarls Barkley, and Radiohead, the pioneering British act that already has a big following from the Googleplex.
The debut of iGoogle's fashion themes, to take place Wednesday through Friday at New York Fashion Week's headquarters, will be lower-key than the glitzy affair in May that splashed colorful projections all over the cobblestone streets of the downtown Meatpacking District.
But having a presence at Fashion Week is a savvy move for Google, regardless of how many iGoogle users want to put Jimmy Choo on their personal homepages, as the biannual sartorial confab isn't just a big deal for the fashion business. It's also a big occasion for Google's dance partner of choice in New York--the ad industry.
This post was updated at 7:58 a.m. PT.