Maison Pierre Cardin designs some of the outfits for European Space Agency astronauts

The European Space Agency has entrusted French fashion house Pierre Cardin with designing training suits and lunar spacesuits for the upcoming Luna training mission, the fashion house learned from France Inter. The goal of the mission, based in Cologne, Germany, is to prepare for work on the Moon. Pierre Cardin is set to unveil the suits on Tuesday.

“It has to be comfortable, but if it’s stylish, it’s even better.” […] I have to work on the Moon later, so if it’s not comfortable, I’m not efficient.”explains Matthias Maurer, the German astronaut who leads the training mission. He was able to try on a suit that will allow European astronauts to train to join the next Artemis missions around the Moon.

He notes that “Textiles for space are rigid and difficult to work with”. “So an engineer who works on this, it will be functional, it will work. But it will never be as comfortable as when a tailor works on this.”the German rejoices. The suits will be sent next week to the European Space Agency’s training center in Cologne.

The imagination of the conquest of space was at the heart of Pierre Cardin’s collections from the 1960s onwards. “It’s been our DNA for 50 years”rejoices Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, the artistic director of the house.