Prada to Help Design Spacesuits for NASA Moon Mission

From a Wall Street Journal story by Joseph Pisani headlined “Prada to Help Design Spacesuits for NASA Moon Mission”:

High fashion is going higher.

Prada, the maker of pricey leather bags and chunky boots, is helping make spacesuits astronauts will wear on the moon.

The suits will be worn on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Artemis III mission, planned for 2025, the agency’s attempt at getting astronauts back on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Astronauts were last on the lunar surface in 1972, during NASA’s Apollo program.

The Artemis mission is expected to be the first time both a woman and a person of color land on the moon.

Prada, whose fashions are usually worn on runways and red carpets, was picked to work on the suits by Axiom Space. The Houston-based company was awarded a NASA contract last year to replace and modernize the agency’s suits.

Axiom said it is bringing on Prada because of its expertise in making and using materials. It said the Italian fashion house will help make the suits more comfortable.

Axiom unveiled an early prototype of the suits in March, saying it was designed with both women and men in mind.

Previous iterations of NASA suits were designed for the male body, with bulky fabrics, fewer joints and heavier equipment. The new suits will be easier to move in and fit most male and female bodies, NASA said.

Prada was founded in 1913, when Mario Prada opened a store in Milan selling bags and travel trunks. The fashion house is part of the Prada Group, a luxury-goods company whose other brands include Miu Miu and British shoe maker Church’s.

NASA supports its lead contractors collaborating with other companies to develop the spacesuit and will work with Axiom to ensure the suit meets safety standards.