Dressing for the final frontier

Fast forward to today and the story of the spacesuit is entering a bold new chapter. Private companies—led by figures like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson—are reshaping space travel and with them comes a wave of collaborations few would have predicted. The most striking example is a NASA mission to the Moon equipped with a spacesuit co-designed by a luxury fashion brand.

Style and substance

Last Autumn in Milan, Axiom Space pulled the curtain back on its Axiom Extra-vehicular Mobility Unit, or AxEMU. This next-generation suit, destined for NASA’s Artemis III mission in 2027, has been created in partnership with Prada. At first glance it looks like a sleeker, more modern cousin of the bulky white suits familiar from Apollo photographs, but beneath the surface lies a revolution in textiles, comfort and functionality.

Axiom has kept precise details secret, but engineers confirm that Prada’s mastery of advanced fabrics and precision sewing has been invaluable. The result is a garment that blends rigorous protection with unexpected elegance. Its bright white outer layer does more than just dazzle—it shields astronauts from harsh lunar conditions while allowing greater flexibility than any previous design. In short, it is as much about mobility and comfort as it is about survival.

“We have redefined what a spacesuit can be,” said Axiom president Matt Ondler at the unveiling. Prada’s chief marketing officer Lorenzo Bertelli was equally enthusiastic: “Going beyond limits reflects the spirit of Prada. This is just the first step in our collaboration with Axiom Space.”

Tried, tested and Moon-ready

For all its polish, the AxEMU is built for serious work. It has already been through extensive trials, including underwater sessions at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where astronauts rehearse spacewalks in giant swimming pools. Reduced-gravity flights at the Johnson Space Center have tested its flexibility and resilience. Most impressively, the suit has completed a pressurised simulation with NASA, SpaceX and Axiom—the first of its kind since the Apollo era.

When astronauts set foot on the Moon’s south pole in 2027, they will be wearing a suit designed to endure temperatures that swing from blistering heat to freezing shadow. The AxEMU’s systems can support an astronaut on a spacewalk for at least eight hours—a crucial capability for exploring the lunar surface.

Threads of history

Today’s fashion-infused innovation may sound like a marketing stunt, but the spacesuit has always been about textiles. Kevlar and Nomex, invented in the 1960s, became icons of astronaut safety, protecting crews from micrometeorites, fire and atmospheric extremes. Beta fibre, a specialised glass thread developed after the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, was woven into outer layers that simply would not burn. Later came Durette for Skylab, Ortho fabric for the Shuttle programme and even NASA’s own version of Velcro, made with Nomex fibres to withstand the rigours of space.

Each generation of spacesuit tells the story of its era—of scientific breakthroughs, tragedy and recovery and lessons learned at extraordinary cost.

The new era

What makes the AxEMU different is not just its technical sophistication but the way it has been created. Instead of relying solely on aerospace contractors, Axiom Space looked outward, bringing in partners from industries as far removed as luxury fashion. The result is not only a better suit but a new model for collaboration in the commercial space age.

Russell Ralston, Axiom’s executive vice president of extravehicular activity, believes the approach is here to stay: “We are pioneering a new era where partnerships are imperative. By combining expertise from different industries, we are crafting better solutions for space.”

For astronauts, the AxEMU represents the most advanced garment ever built for survival beyond Earth. For the rest of us, it is a reminder that the history of space exploration has always been woven from unlikely fibres—and that the spacesuit remains the ultimate expression of human ingenuity, one stitch at a time.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (IL)