Space age happened during the space race era. It is the age of space exploration. The background of it was from the competition between the USA and Soviet Union during the Cold War period (from 1945 to 1991) the missile arms race, the product of the WWII, Nuclear weapon, one of the most significant examples, and known for its dynamic destruction the serious consequence if being used.
Designers, however, seemed to not promote the negative side, but the energetic and technical improvements of the era. It may due to the hope of a better future. Despite the Nuclear weapons and other social issues, there was a futuristic style of design which was inspired by the space exploration and started to pop up from the late 1950s, and escalated in the 1960s.
The famous quote “one small step for man and one large one for mankind” by Neil Armstrong became one of the iconic space related sayings , along with Star Treck Captain Kirck and his frase “to boldly go where no man gone before”.
All of which combined to inspire fashion designers to create futuristic space inspired silhouettes. The two leaders of this fashion movement were two French fashion designers, Courrèges and Pierre Cardin. In 1968 Courrèges hit the headlines with his “SPACE AGE” collection. His designs at this time, were functional , uncluttered , and futuristic. Andy Warhol said that “Courrèges clothes are so beautiful , everyone should look the same, dressed in silver. Silver merges into everything …”
Pierre Cardin a year later launched his iconic space inspired collections and now the world could dress as if they were the crew of the Star Trek Enterprise….