Astronauts Wear Prada: Luxury Brand Joins NASA Lunar Mission with High-Performance Specialized Textiles

Prada Unveils Liquid-Cooled and Ventilated Spacesuit Garment
Absorbs Body Heat via Circulating Cold Water, Enhanced Safety
Set for Deployment on Artemis IV Mission in 2028

Italian luxury brand Prada has unveiled advanced cooling and ventilation garments designed to be worn inside astronaut spacesuits. This marks the first time a luxury brand has directly participated in spacesuit development.

The 'Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment,' a collaboration between Prada and Axiom Space, was unveiled on the 7th (local time) at a press event held in New York, USA. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

According to foreign media outlets such as the New York Post, on June 7 (local time), Prada jointly introduced the 'Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG)' with Houston-based space infrastructure company Axiom Space at its Prada store in Manhattan, New York. This garment serves as the inner layer of NASA's next-generation lunar exploration suit (AxEMU), which will be worn by astronauts.

The LCVG works by circulating cold water through a network of tubes intricately woven into the fabric, which absorbs heat from major muscle groups and transfers it to a portable life support system that then releases it into space. Unlike previous cooling suits, the LCVG features a completely dual cooling circuit, so if the primary circuit fails, the backup circuit will operate, according to Axiom Space.

The garment also provides ventilation. Separate tubes deliver fresh oxygen to the astronaut's face, while exhaled carbon dioxide passes through an absorber in the life support system and is recirculated as oxygen.

The LCVG will first be deployed on the Artemis IV mission, scheduled for launch in early 2028. It will be the first time in more than 50 years that humans return to the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. Axiom Space stated, "We are considering space environment testing next year, and it is likely to take place on the International Space Station (ISS) rather than during Artemis III."

For this collaboration, Prada provided advanced 3D modeling, high-performance knitting, and specialized textile and manufacturing technologies. Lorenzo Bertelli, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Prada Group, stated at the unveiling, "Prada possesses extensive technological capabilities and know-how that go beyond fashion." Jonathan C. Sietzen, CEO of Axiom Space, emphasized, "The expertise needed to develop space exploration products can come from completely unexpected industries."

NASA logo. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News

NASA selected Axiom Space as the developer of its next-generation lunar suit in 2022, and the following year, Axiom Space partnered with Prada. The two companies began collaborating in 2023, first unveiling the exterior design of the spacesuit, and now introducing the inner layer as well.

Previously, as companies such as Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX entered the space tourism business targeting affluent customers, Prada has become the first luxury brand to directly participate in spacesuit development.

Thomaï Serdari, professor at NYU Stern School of Business and luxury brand strategist, commented on Prada's initiatives, saying, "They have gone beyond mere inspiration to build a tangible partnership." She identified Prada's motivation for entering the space industry as "accessing the wealthy market interested in space travel and associating the brand image with avant-garde thinking."

However, it remains uncertain whether other luxury brands will follow suit. Professor Serdari noted, "In the luxury industry, being the first to innovate and set trends is important," but also observed, "While Louis Vuitton from LVMH, Hermès, and Chanel are all interested in space travel, they are more likely to enter the market in new and different ways than before."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.