Prada Goes Universal With New Axiom Space Collab
The catwalk is so last season—it’s time for the moonwalk!
Source: National Air and Space Museum
On October 4th, 2023, Prada and Axiom Space announced that they will collaborate to develop space suits for the crew of the NASA expedition, Artemis III. Scheduled to launch in 2025, Artemis III will be the first human expedition to the moon in just over five decades.
Already an immensely notable event, the Artemis III expedition brings with it the first Black astronaut to land on the moon, pilot Victor Glover, and the first female astronaut, mission specialist Christina Koch. Glover and Koch will also be present on the preceding expedition Artemis II, set to launch a year earlier in November 2024.
If you are anticipating something fashion-forward like 1985 Astronaut Barbie’s outfit, limit your expectations. Unfortunately, it still has to be a functioning protective space suit.
The suit is still in the prototype stages, but a few photos have been released… and it just looks like a normal space suit. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about it from a fashion perspective, but it will certainly be special compared to space suits of the past.
When a luxury brand designs a new generation of space suits, it's easy to anticipate them being somewhat avant-garde, but many luxury brands originally became popularized for their superior quality and craftsmanship rather than their design choices. This is precisely why Axiom has partnered up with Prada.
In a statement on October 4th, Axiom's CEO Michael Suffredini praises Prada for providing “technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques…but also the much-needed human factors” that will really make this a new generation of space suits.
There's still a long way to go before these suits are officially unveiled. But by the time we see a final product, I’m sure there will be at least one chic Prada logo gracing these innovative suits. After all, it is just one small step for man, but one giant leap for luxury fashion.