Styling their suits after drawing upon NASA’s own Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit design, they aimed to improve the comfort and manoeuvrability of the suits and help the astronauts reach the lunar south pole - hitherto unexplored territory. The suit is said to weigh 55kg and said to be a better fit for women as well - a great move towards inclusivity in a career path that was originally designed for white men alone. The 2026 expedition will be the first manned expedition to the moon since the 1972 Apollo 17 mission concluded.
Is Prada's involvement just the next thing in the recent trend of attempting to commercialise space?
Axiom Space is a leader in the space industry, having created the first commercial orbital station. Prada also has access to advanced technologies and great creative minds as their announcement of these suits suggests, and they do have experience working with different, technical fabrics - a great pair, in theory.
Whilst this space mission is providing more opportunities for those that would not have been allowed on the previous missions to the moon, is Prada’s involvement just the next thing in the recent trend of attempting to commercialise space? As with Elon Musk’s recent space success with SpaceX, the involvement of a high-end fashion house in the development of space suits feels much along the same trend - a precursor to the future of space as the next high-end tourist destination. This, when coupled with Axiom Space’s ‘commercial space station’, does seem to point towards capitalism reaching staggering heights: the stars.
