STARtorialist in Italiano!
We were recently highlighted in the newsletter of Italy's National Institute of Astrophysics, in an article discussing creative astronomy and space fashion!
The article also features artwork by two of the lovely designers we work with: Becky Kennedy (Cepheid Studio) and Emily Lakdawalla.
Here are a few excerpts from the (translated) article:
"We originally came up with the idea because we both had a lot of outreach events in New York, and we always showed up wearing something space-themed: galactic leggings, star jewels, nerdy t-shirts," says Rice, a brown dwarf expert and associate professor at the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York (CUNY). "The goal of the blog was to find and share astronomical and space themed clothing, jewelry, accessories, home decorations, really anything that would allow you to talk about science, for example identify the Hubble image [used in design] or explain if something was inaccurate. We thought this would help us not to have to buy and wear everything we could find, which backfired in the best possible way!"
“I think the popularity of 'space fashion' has grown from something trendy to an enduring category of design,” comments Rice, who often jokes about a strange“ dark energy ”that helps accelerate the expansion of the space fashion universe. “Each new Hubble image or space mission offers new opportunities, and artists are exploring new styles and techniques in which space and science themes can be incorporated. I think scientific fashion is a great way to communicate with the public but also to convey the creativity, enthusiasm and humanity of scientists as people". The researcher points out how fashion, strongly associated with femininity, combined with science, traditionally seen as a male activity, can help to question the status quo, allowing to broaden the idea of what it means to do science in the collective imagination.
This trend is confirmed by the German researcher Fe Krauss, expert in high energy astrophysics and currently Eberly Research Fellow at Pennsylvania State University, in the United States. “I love STARtorialist's astronomy-inspired clothing and various stores, including those from NASA,” she comments. “There are wonderful, very ingenious people on websites like Etsy, who sell handmade items, even on commission. I don't think it's necessary for an astronomer to use our work in clothing. However, astronomy has brought some of the most spectacular images and using them in fashion is a great and simple choice for many, even non-astronomers."
Huge thanks to Claudia Mignone from INAF for featuring us with these amazing artists!