Space Couture

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We're barely there and already a designer is planning for fashion forward space tourists! Last month marked the deadline for a unique fashion design competition: the Hyper Space Couture Design Contest.

Entrants designed "Microgravity Wear for the First Generation of Space Tourism." The designer behind this competition is Eri Matsui, a fashion designer from Japan and the creator of the first zero-gravity wedding dress.

Two categories were available for the contest. For the Designer Selection, designers were required to create a "design for a cool space flight suit which releases your stress for space travel and inspires your dream for space travel." The top 10 design sketches will be chosen from the submissions received by March 30, 2006. Those will then be made available to the public for final selection at a fashion show to be held in Tokyo and Paris in March 2007.

For the Dream Section, designs were open for broader participation and should reflect "a more free image design for space tourism wear." Also, public voting will include kindergarten, elementary, junior high, senior high and university students.

The competition is hosted by The Steering Committee for Space Couture Contest, The R&D Committee for Space Couture Contest and Rocketplane Ltd., in cooperation with Industrial Collaboration Department, JAXA.

The winners from the two categories "will be able to develop real space tourism wear, which will be used for space tourism flights in 2007," along Ms. Matsui, Dr. Yoshiko Taya, from Japan Women’s University, and Katsuyoshi Horie, creative designer of Angel Square." Other prizes planned include a ticket for space flight, space camp and more.

For more information, visit www.space-fashion.com (Japanese with English coming soon). See also "Design for the first astrobride."