Fashion in Orbit: Space Age Past and Future

“The Parodi Costume Collection presents Fashion in Orbit: Space Age Past and Future . Threading the legacy of Space Age fashion from its inception in the mid-20 century to today, the exhibition showcases over forty garments and accessories from designers including André Courrèges, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin, Mary Quant, Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, Junya Watanabe, Stella McCartney, Yves Saint Laurent, Hussein Chalayan, and Kei Ninomiya. Curated by Ab Thielen and Valeria Fajardo, Fashion in Orbit is organized into six conceptual groups highlighting the design heritage of Space Age ingenuity: material innovation, endurance and utilitarianism, kinetic and optical patterns, geometry and form, body autonomy and exposure, and structural construction. “Fashion in Orbit presents an original reading of the seminal ramifications of Space Age design, where technology, Kinetic and Op Art, and fashion fuse into a unique vision of the future. A narrative has been staged in the form of multiple conceptual planets orbiting around a brilliant, site-specific installation that pays homage to the work of Kinetic artist Jesús Rafael Soto and fashion designer André Courrèges. Following its mission to promote critical thinking, Parodi Costume Collection is honored to present an exhibition that features excellent scholarship, and progressive curatorial skills from its young and talented staff.” —GONZALO PARODI, Director, Parodi Costume Collection

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. 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.

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. 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 Press Release

Photography by David Gary Lloyd

Fashion in Orbit: Space Age Past and Future
June 3rd, 2025 — September 15, 2025
276 NE 27th St, Miami, FL 33137, United States
By appointment only, via www.parodicostumecollection.com
Instagram: @parodicostumecollection and @parodicostumeinstitute
For further inquiry, contact: Gonzalo Parodi at info@parodicostumecollection.com