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Source: Yomiuri Online

Project Runway, indeed! The University of Tokyo recently hosted a spacewear fashion show with couture designed for weightless environments. You know how some raincoats are reversible, so you look as good in dry weather as you do in rain? So here, clothes must be directionally revsersible, and look just as good up as they do down. I've floated in microgravity a few times on Zero G flights, and it would sure be even more fun to float around in satin poufs instead of those pedestrian spacesuits.

The show was held by Rocketplane Kistler — a US company that plans to begin offering space tours in two years — and a group of Japanese fashion designers, as part of the Hyper Space Couture Design Contest. Winners of the contest, which is organized by Tokyo-based fashion designer Eri Matsui with the support of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and many others, will help design the clothes for use on Rocketplane’s space tourism flights set to begin in 2008.

The 11 garments appearing in the show were selected from over 880 designs submitted by college students. The clothes incorporate a variety of features designed for zero gravity, such as ruffles that expand under weightless conditions or small air-jet propulsion systems in the sleeves to help you change direction while floating.

Link (via jwz). Here's an earlier story by Dennis Overbye in the NYT about plans for the contest: Link.

As a newly employed adult (i.e. completely broke) nothing excites me more than the couture meets mass market production trend. Since my newly found financial freedom, my days at Nieman’s have dwindled and the people at Forever 21 know me by name. However, budget shopping is becoming increasingly more enjoyable as more and more top designers sign on with fashion chains such as H&M and Target. Most recently, designing team Viktor&Rolf announced their collaboration with H&M. The Dutch duo’s innovative and avant garde styles have a devout cult following that will, no doubt, multiply as soon as their fashion is made accessible to those of us whose wallets are lacking the black AmEx.

It was reported today that a Brazilian model named Ana Carolina Reston died earlier this week from an infection related to anorexia. The 5’8” 21 year old weighed a mere 88 lbs, and had previously suffered from bulimia as well.

Then there’s Luisel Ramos, the 22 year old Uruguayan model who was told by industry insiders that she could make it big if she just lost a few pounds. In August, she collapsed and died minutes after stepping off of a runway from heart failure. She hadn’t eaten in two weeks and three months prior to that had been surviving on Diet Coke and lettuce.

The idea of starving oneself to some seems insane or stupid or pathetic, but to others, it can seem desirable. It all depends on perspective. If you’re a young model trying to be the next Kate Moss, being thin is a professional necessity. Sample sizes that models normally work with are minute, yes, but it is also imperative to recognize the impact thinness makes on a runway. The reason super-skinny women make it big is because they are like hangers with legs – no meat, just bones – the perfect way to display clothes.

While I agree that models need to wake up and maybe even go to Peter Lugers for once in their lives, they are not the only ones who need to make changes. Have you ever tried on a suit or dress from Armani, Chanel, Moschino or Dolce & Gabbana? My normally size 2 or 4 frame fits into an 8 or 10 when meddling with that level of fashion – but I know I don’t need to drop a few.

In his spring 2007 show, John Galliano put on the runway a non-waif weighing over 110 lbs, styled and coiffed beautifully. Known for his outlandish design concepts, Galliano once again shook up the fashion world with this anti-fashion statement.

Although bold and outrageous, I choose to see this as one small step in the direction of normalcy on the runway, if normal means not having to die for you job, that is.