Entering Earth’s orbit for the first time in 1957, the Soviet satellite Sputnik marked mankind’s arrival into a new frontier : outer space. Inspired by a vision for humanity to explore, survive, and thrive in the uninhabited cosmos, designers reimagined fashion in the following decade through a coalescence of fantasy and utility.
Led by André and Coqueline Courrèges, Pierre Cardin, and Paco Rabanne, Space Age design developed an orbital path within fashion. Grounded in technological and social advances with the vision of a hopeful future, Space Age womenswear realized silhouettes for ease of movement while incorporating unconventional materials such as plastic, metal, and paper. Embracing the abstract nature of space and collaborating with the Op Art movement, designers also emulated the illusion of time, movement, and gravity with kinetic patterns and elliptical shapes.
Through the latter half of the 20th century, technological developments narrowed the gap between science fiction and the tangibility of the great beyond. Designers such as Thierry Mugler and Issey Miyake revisited space exploration motifs by incorporating abstract geometry, imaginative silhouettes, and synthetic materials.
Today, nearly 70 years after Sputnik’s first orbit, humanity finds itself in the ever-nearing reality of life outside planet Earth. Within the 21st-century designs of Hussein Chalayan, Kei Ninomiya, and Rei Kawakubo, the legacy of the Space Age lives in a mercurial blend of a nostalgic past, a material present, and a hurtling future. We invite you to explore Fashion In Orbit and the legacy of Space Age fashion design
Fashion in Orbit: Space Age Past and Future is curated by Abigail Thielen and Valeria Fajardo.
