Reimagining Spaceflight Attire
For decades, the design of spaceflight gear focused on male astronauts, often leaving women with ill-fitting suits. Lauren Sánchez—a licensed pilot and journalist—saw an opportunity to change that. Sánchez is now preparing to lead Blue Origin’s first all-female crew into space. As part of that mission, she has spearheaded a project to reinvent the flight suit for women. “Usually these suits are made for a man, then they get tailored to fit a woman,” Sánchez said. In 2019, NASA canceled a planned all-female spacewalk because it didn’t have a second suit to fit another woman. Determined to avoid that fate, Sánchez set out to create flight suits that put female fit and comfort first.
Five other women will join her on the upcoming mission. Her crewmates include pop star Katy Perry and television host Gayle King, along with a rocket scientist, an activist, and a filmmaker. Together, they will make history as the first all-female spaceflight team since 1963. Sánchez believes that feeling like yourself makes you powerful. She says no one should have to sacrifice personal identity just because space has traditionally been a mostly male domain.
A Collaboration Takes Flight
To turn her vision into reality, Sánchez called on fashion designers Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim. The duo are co-founders of the New York label Monse. Five months ago, she asked Garcia and Kim to help redesign Blue Origin’s flight suits for her upcoming all-female mission. Garcia’s answer was immediate: “Right away!”
Garcia and Kim, Monse’s creative directors (who also design for Oscar de la Renta), brought high-fashion know-how to the project. They also enlisted Creative Character Engineering—a Hollywood costume and effects firm—to help build the suits. The team custom-tailored each outfit to each woman’s exact measurements, using 3D body scans.
The result of this unusual collaboration will debut on launch day. On April 14, the crew will don their new suits in West Texas. They will wear them as they board the Blue Origin rocket for launch. In Sánchez’s view, the finished suits are “elegant” yet bring “a little spice to space.”
Gayle King, one of the crew members, was impressed when she tried on her suit. She said it looked “professional and feminine at the same time.” That mix, King noted, was “something we had never seen before” in a space uniform.
Fashion Meets Function
The Monse-designed flight suits stand out from Blue Origin’s earlier gear. Visually, they present a striking silhouette: a slim, one-piece jumpsuit with a crisp mandarin collar and a belted waist. A dual-zippered front gives each wearer options. It can be worn fully closed or unzipped down to the waist. This lets each person adjust the neckline to her taste. Zippers on the lower legs allow an easy switch from a tapered leg to a flared “bell-bottom” shape. These style touches give individuals some say in how they wear the suit.
The material itself marks a departure from the past. Monse chose a flame-resistant stretch neoprene fabric that hugs the body. It replaces the bulky, shiny polyester blend used in Blue Origin’s older suits. The new fabric offers both safety and flexibility, enabling a sleeker cut without sacrificing protection. The crew will remain inside their spacecraft. That means the suits do not need the heavy life-support systems built into true spacewalk outfits. Even so, the designers still had to meet Blue Origin’s technical safety requirements while pushing the aesthetic envelope.
“We really didn’t know where to start,” Garcia admitted, given the lack of any precedent beyond men’s suits. The team focused on practicality without forsaking style. “Simplicity was important, and comfort, and fit,” Garcia said. “But we also wanted something that was a little dangerous, like a motocross outfit or a ski suit—flattering and sexy.”
In other words, the suits needed to work well yet still look daring and modern.
RIGHT: A used Blue Origin New Shepard rocket booster on display in 2017. This reusable suborbital vehicle – the same type that will carry an all-female crew to space – bears the scorch marks of past flights. As Blue Origin prepares for the women-led mission, the company’s iconic blue-and-white flight suits are getting a modern makeover by Monse’s designers, merging aerospace tech with high-fashion detailing.
Tailored for Women in Space
For the first time, a spaceflight crew will wear suits built specifically for women’s bodies, rather than modified men’s suits. This represents a notable shift in the history of spacewear. For most of the Space Age, only engineers designed what astronauts wore—and they built everything for male flyers. Women who followed often had to make do with uncomfortable adaptations. As recently as 2019, a simple sizing issue sidelined female astronauts. Now, Sánchez’s all-female crew will launch knowing they have suits designed expressly for them.
Amanda Nguyen, one of Sánchez’s crewmates, called the new suits “revolutionary.” Clothing, she explained, is about identity and representation. By allowing women to look like women, the new uniforms declare that “women belong in space.” None of the six crew members had to squeeze into a unisex suit or roll up sleeves meant for someone larger. Each woman can move with ease in gear tailored to her. She can also feel like she belongs in that gear.
A Statement Beyond Style
Monse’s entry into space attire is part of a broader trend. Not long ago, only engineers designed astronaut gear. Now, space agencies and companies are tapping fashion experts for fresh ideas. For instance, NASA recently enlisted Italian luxury brand Prada to help design its next-generation lunar suits. García suggests that if space gear looks like something “anyone could wear,” then space itself might feel “a little less distant.” In short, bringing runway sensibilities to rocket ships could inspire more people to see space as accessible.
Sánchez is excited to give space travel a new look. More importantly, she wants her crew to feel confident being themselves. “This isn’t what you would call ‘normal,’ but neither is sending six women into space,” she said. Her philosophy for the mission is simple: “If you want to do glam, great. If you don’t, great.” In other words, each astronaut can express her personal style or stick to a practical approach, as she pleases. Ultimately, the mission is about making sure each woman feels like herself even as she ventures into space.
