Prada’s Moonbound Space Suit Is the Ultimate Fashion Flex

Of all the fashion brands out there, it’s fair to say Prada is one of the industry’s most boundary-pushing labels. And if anything can convince even the non-believers that the luxury house is on the cutting edge of fashion, it’s the brand’s latest project, the end-all-be-all of collaborations: a space suit with Axiom Space. 

Leave it to Miuccia Prada and Co. to bypass the revolving door of designer collaborations—which has seen industry giants partner with everyone from mass retail and celebs to food brands and beyond—and take the Milanese brand’s sartorial DNA to space. This suit is not just for any space mission (no offense, SpaceX), but Artemis III, which will embark on the first human moon landing since 1972, spearheaded by NASA and Axiom Space. The mission will also include the first woman and person of color to ever land on the moon by September 2026. 

“Going beyond our limits is one of the company’s values that perfectly reflects the spirit of the Prada brand and my parents’ vision,” says Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility. “We’ve shared our expertise on high-performance materials, features, and sewing techniques, and we learned a lot.”

It’s the type of fashion moment that transcends the industry. It’s historic, and the space suits—of which Prada designed their outer layer—befit the moment. The mostly white design with gray geometric regions over the knees, elbows, and backside is paired with striking red stripes. Although no visible Prada logos are present, the brand’s heritage comes through in subtle details.

Take the red stripes, for example. This shade has long been synonymous with the brand’s Linea Rossa line, which first launched in 1997 with a tech-forward ethos, sporty styles, and innovative nylon fabrications. According to a press release, Prada helped Axiom work with “advanced technologies and innovative sewing methods to bridge the gap between highly engineered functionality and an aesthetically appealing white outer layer.” 

Most importantly, Prada lent its considerable fabric expertise to the project. According to a brand spokesperson, the team used open seams, a sewing technique in which fabric edges are joined and left open, to create a suit that allows for freedom of movement and better management of stressors, including protection against moon dust. This method also ensures optimal hold, comfort, and durability—which, as the brand told InStyle, was also validated by an in-depth study.

Prada’s foray into outer space might seem unexpected, but fashion’s first trip to the moon has been a long time coming. When Neil Armstrong first landed as part of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, he wore a custom-made suit manufactured by a mostly female team from the International Latex Corporation and its consumer division, Playtex. This pivotal mission (and the suits worn by its crew) impacted fashion and pop culture, moving the world into a space age that catapulted designers like Pierre Cardin, André Courrèges, and Paco Rabanne to fashion fame.

This futurist vision is still felt in the industry today. With a new wave of space exploration programs, it made sense for the industry to start getting in on the space collab game. In 2015, Adidas’ Y-3 label partnered with Virgin Galactic to create space suits—made from Nomex Meta Aramid, a material woven using a 3D-engineered pattern—for its astronauts to use in its test flight program. Footwear giant Reebok collaborated with David Clark Company in the creation of the Space Boot SB-01—made using the footwear giant’s “Floatride Foam” technology—for Boeing’s Starliner launch in 2019. Now, Prada is taking it a step further, designing for a cosmic mission that the entire world will be watching.

Why wouldn’t a fashion company—whose spirit of innovation and futurist thinking has defined its legacy—want to be involved? Going to space is the ultimate flex, and so far, Prada’s been the only luxury brand to secure a partnership of this magnitude. If successful, another Moon Landing will impact culture just as the 1962 mission did decades earlier, inspiring intergalactic aesthetics and TV shows like Star Trek and The Jetsons. This small step for man will likely turn into a giant leap for humankind. And for Prada, there’s certainly no way to measure that kind of ROI. 

Let the fashion space race begin. 

The Prada x Axiom spacesuit is currently on display in Milan at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where Mario Prada, Mrs. Prada’s grandfather, opened his first store until Tuesday, October 29.