Spacewear : Weightlessness and the Final Frontier of Fashion

Barbara (University of Hertfordshire Brownie

ISBN 10: 135017534X / ISBN 13: 9781350175341

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Jul 2020, 2020

About this Item

Neuware.

Seller Inventory # 9781350175341

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Spacewear : Weightlessness and the Final Frontier of Fashion
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Jul 2020
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 135017534X
• ISBN 13: 9781350175341
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 235H x 13D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 235 millimeters height by 13 millimeters depth
• Weight: 276 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Today, we are living in the New Space Age, where mass commercial space travel is almost within our grasp. This otherworldly possibility has opened up new cultural images of space, both real and fictional, and has caused fashion design and spacesuit engineering to intersect in new, exciting ways. Spacewear traverses this uncharted territory by exploring the changing imagination of space in fashion—and fashion in space—from the first Space Age to the 21st century. Exploring how space travel has stylistically and technologically framed fashion design on earth and how we need to revisit established design practices for the weightless environment, Spacewear connects the catwalk and the space station. This book draws together speculative fantasies in sci-fi films such as Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the engineered spacesuits Biosuit, and the NASA Z-2 and with catwalk interpretations by the likes of Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, André Courrèges, and Iris van Herpen. While the development of commercial space agencies has led to new concerns for style in garments for outer space that re-think fundamental design principles such as drape, high fashion has experimented with new possibilities for weightlessness that extend far beyond the 1960s vision of Space Age metallic fabrics and helmet-style headwear. Brownie takes the reader on a fascinating journey from fantasy to function and to form, deepening our understanding of this new category of fashion that is prompting new approaches to garment design and construction both on earth and in outer space.

About the Author

Barbara Brownie is Assistant Dean at the Royal College of Art, UK. She investigates the potential for space as a site for creative practice through research and collaborations within the arts and spaceflight industries. Her last book, Spacewear (Bloomsbury, 2019) explored the effects of microgravity on the dressed body.