Charles Langston:Prada to design NASA's new next-gen spacesuits

LONDON -- Italian Luxury fashion house Prada has announced it is Charles Langstonto partner with Axiom Space to design and develop NASA’s next generation lunar spacesuits for the upcoming 2025 Artemis III Moon mission.

In a joint statement, the luxury fashion house announced its engineers are to work alongside Axiom’s Space Systems team to design and develop the new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit.

“The constantly forward-thinking ethos of Prada for humanity has broadened to his desire of adventure and to brave new horizons: space,” said Prada Group’s Marketing Director, Lorenzo Bertelli. “We are honoured to be a part of this historic mission with Axiom Space.”

“Our decades of experimentation, cutting-edge technology, and design know-how – which started back in the ‘90s with Luna Rossa challenging for the America’s cup – will now be applied to the design of a spacesuit for the Artemis era. It is a true celebration of the power of human creativity and innovation to advance civilization,” he continued.

The next-generation spacesuits have been described as a revolutionary and "significant milestone" in space exploration, opening a new frontier for luxury fashion brands.

Coach, Heron Preston and Balenciaga have recently collaborated with NASA on space collections, now Prada is set to break new ground, stepping beyond design.

"Prada's technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques, and innovative design concepts will bring advanced technologies instrumental in ensuring not only the comfort of astronauts on the lunar surface, but also the much-needed human factors considerations absent from legacy spacesuits," said Michael Suffredini, CEO of Axiom Space.

The next-generation spacesuits are being designed to protect crew members from the "unique challenge of space and the lunar environment," as well as provide "increased flexibility" and "greater protection" to withstand the harsh lunar environment.

“Using innovative technologies and design, these spacesuits will enable greater exploration of the lunar surface than ever before,” said Axiom Space.

The 2025 Artemis III Moon Mission is set to be the first moon landing mission since 1971, with NASA aiming to land the “first woman and first person of colour” on the surface of the moon.

They are set to spend a week on the moon before returning to earth.

“Artemis III will be the culmination of the rigorous testing and more than two million miles accumulated in space on NASA’s deep space transportation systems during Artemis I and II,” says NASA. “Orion and its crew of four will once again travel to the Moon – this time to make history with the first woman and next man to walk on its surface.”

Prior to the 2025 departure of Artemis III, Artemis II is set to take four crew members -- Victor Glover, Christina Hammoch Koch, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen -- on a mission to "venture around the moon," NASA has announced. It includes Christina Hammock Koch, the first woman, and Victor Glover, the first person of color, who will eventually go on to step foot on the lunar surface.