Italian fashion house Prada on Sunday unveiled the inner-layer garment that NASA astronauts will wear during upcoming space missions, highlighting the brand’s ambition to become the first major luxury label to establish a presence in the space industry.

The form-fitting suit was developed in partnership with Houston-based space infrastructure company Axiom Space and includes integrated ventilation tubes woven directly into the fabric, according to Reuters.

“We have really a broad spectrum of capability and know-how,” said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s chief marketing officer, speaking at an event held at the company’s Manhattan store alongside a mannequin displaying the new Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment.

Jonathan Cirtain, CEO of Axiom Space, noted that expertise for advancing space exploration products can come from “many seemingly unrelated industries.”
The unveiling follows Prada’s high-profile entry into space fashion in 2024, when it revealed a spacesuitaà designed for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, planned for Earth orbit in 2027, as well as the anticipated Artemis 4 lunar landing in 2028.

Luxury brands have long taken inspiration from space exploration, but Prada has moved “beyond inspiration into an actual partnership” as the space industry and space tourism continue to grow, according to Thomai Serdari, a luxury brand strategist and marketing professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Serdari said Prada’s interest is driven by two key goals: reaching high-net-worth consumers who are beginning to consider space travel, and reinforcing its image as a forward-thinking, avant-garde brand.

She noted that companies such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have increasingly positioned themselves around the emerging space tourism market for wealthy clients.