Italian fashion house Prada on June 7, 2026 unveiled a new inner-layer garment for astronauts — the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) — developed in collaboration with Houston-based Axiom Space and revealed at an event in Prada’s Manhattan store. The body-hugging suit, intended for use under a spacesuit, integrates ventilation tubes knitted directly into the fabric to help regulate temperature and airflow during missions.
Prada presented the LCVG as part of its broader push into the space industry, positioning itself as one of the first major luxury brands to move from inspiration to practical partnership in spacewear. Axiom Space posted details of the collaboration on social media, describing the garment as the innermost layer of the AxEMU spacesuit designed to protect astronauts when they explore the lunar surface.
At the Manhattan event, Prada chief marketing officer Lorenzo Bertelli said the company has “a broad spectrum of capability and know‑how,” remarks given while seated beside a mannequin wearing the new garment. Jonathan Cirtain, CEO of Axiom Space, noted that expertise for space‑grade equipment can come from unexpected industries, underscoring the value of fashion‑industry materials and manufacturing know‑how in solving technical challenges.
The LCVG follows Prada’s earlier 2024 spacesuit reveal. That suit was presented as a candidate for NASA missions, including Artemis 3, currently scheduled for Earth orbit in 2027, and Artemis 4, planned as a lunar landing mission in 2028. Industry observers see Prada’s moves as part of a wider trend: luxury brands seeking access to wealthy consumers interested in space tourism while aligning their image with avant‑garde technology.
Thomai Serdari, a luxury brand strategist and professor at NYU Stern, says the partnership reflects two aims for Prada — courting affluent future space travelers and reinforcing an image of forward‑thinking design. As commercial space firms like Blue Origin and SpaceX expand offerings for wealthy customers, fashion collaborations such as Prada’s may become a more familiar feature of the emerging space economy.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/science/nasas-future-space-missions-to-include-prada-crafted-astronaut-wear-11606879#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-06-08 15:52:00
