GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM: "SWITCH YOUR DRESSCODE TO SWANKY"
December 18, 2006
As contest organisers (between other activities in our daily duties) some EVERS periodically spend a bit of time researching and checking other contests in the fashion sphere, involving young designers around the world; sometimes, it happens to discover absolute amazing news on the topic and this time a quite curious project captured our attention. Under the auspices of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and with the collaboration of Rocketplane Ltd (aerospace company based in Oklahoma City, US) a "Hyper Space Couture Design Contest" has been established this year for the first time across the two sides of the ocean. The fancy vision of space tourism is becoming reality, and in these last years the needed technology costs reduced, making the possibility of a space cruising for curious private travellers somehow reasonable. As this step is made, as cosmic tourists prepare to land, the old-fashioned concept of the common space suits and helmets seems to belong more to sci-fi movies than to this new star-wandering reality. Hyper Space Couture Design Contest, created with the collaboration and artistic supervision of Tokyo based designer Eri Matsui and with the solid support of JAXA, includes two segments: the "Designer Section" and the "Dream Section of Design". |
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Going a little deeper in technical details the JAXA experts underlined that suborbital flights are expected to face during the path a three-four minutes onboard completely weightless status, and this is one of the criteria to be considered in the development of outfits in the Designer Section (this deals with comfort and wearability of the projects). The Dream Section is less linked to the actual space floating needs and more inspired to the imaginative side of this new form of tourism. The University of Tokyo recently hosted the first spacewear fashion show, with couture designed for weightless environments. Other appointments are scheduled again in Tokyo, Berlin and Paris next spring. Winners will have the honour of designing the clothes to be used on first Rocketplane's space tourism flight, which the organising company is programming in 2008. |
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One of the aims of the opening of such a contest is to heighten the expectations about this new frontier. That is one of the reasons that made the organisers believe that this formula will have more appeal and diffusion rather than just ask a celebrated designer to create some outfits. This option seems to have reached its goals; in the first phase, 365 contestants applied submitting over 880 drawings. The organisation is planning to perform space-fashion shows presenting the selected projects in late 2007, one of which will be set in a weightless floating structure, thanks to a parabolic-flying Russian Ilyushin 76 aircraft. In 2008 the space tourism program should start running regularly. So, if your plans are to cruise by the planets and count on being seen in Vogue Mars' red carpets pages, now you can mark your agenda for the A/W weightless 3000 show. |
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All images are taken from Space Fashion website. For more info visit: www.space-fashion.com |
