Fashion in Space?

kandela writes "It seems the fashion industry has taken an interest in the space industry. Space.com is running a story about the Hyper Space Couture Design Contest, a fashion competition sponsored by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and Rocketplane Ltd. for clothes that look good in zero gravity. The best designs will appear in a fashion show in Tokyo this fall." From the article: "Onuki said that, in working with fashion designer, Ms. Matsui, the intent is to cross-thread mathematics, science, art, and physics with fashion. To date, there have been several kickoff events, as well as fashion shows to stir interest in the multi-step contest. At the end of March, contest officials had received 882 drawings by 365 individuals. Last month, the top 10 designs plus three alternate designs were picked. The actual winner, second and third place will be selected later this year."

Comments

Silver jumpsuits

[rbgemini]

I thought years of sci-fi had taught us that the 'look' for space travel was the silver jumpsuit, ideally with some sort of stripe down the side. Even better if everyone has the same one. So I ask: shouldn't we be working on choosing which colour stripe the whole human race will have on their silver suits? I vote red.

Function over Form

[Hungry Admin]

Zero-gravity is a place where function is certainly going to be more important than form.

On the other hand, one could combine the two, but that would require an awful lot of knowledge.

Shape and material may have some unusual constraints for safety and maneuverability reasons, but there's no reason why color, artistry, or useful features could not make a jumpsuit into something a lot cooler. If I were going into zero-gee I would need a special pocket just for barf bags. Maybe automatically recycle it so that I don't go into electrolyte imbalance.

I would like to see something built into the clothing that makes me exercise while doing normal work - with no gravity, muscles and bones degenerate rapidly.

I would appreciate smart thrusters built into the clothing that would perform station-keeping, so I could press on things without rebounding across the room.

This could be a really cool contest, worthy of Q department in her Majesty's Secret Service. Functionality with a flair.

Maybe I should go to work for NASA.

The Hungry Admin

There goes the neighborhood

[schwit1]

So, the shallowest industry on the planet thinks space needs a makeover. Great, as if the space program wasn't losing credibiltiy as it was.