Alexandra Lucas’ space suit for life on another planet

Would humans be able to evolve to suit life on Mars? This is something that textile designer Alexandra Lucas mused over when conceptualising her collection of space-inspired fashion and textiles called TMO: The Mars Odyssey. As a weaver that sticks to traditional methods, Lucas has an insatiable fascination with hand-making fabrics from scratch.

Like all Lucas’ textile ranges, TMO is about more than its aesthetic appeal. As much a conceptual artist as a designer, each of Lucas’ threads appear to come together in a carefully woven story. TMO is an expression of her imaginings of space exploration and human evolution – topics that have become part of an growing global conversation fuelled by future plans of a manned mission to Mars and talk of asteroids hitting earth.

Lucas explains the concept behind TMO on her website: “In an imagined world where all natural resources would have run out, a mission to Mars would be the only chance of human survival. It will be a chance to rebuild the human race, to a build a society more worthy of the planet we have abused.”

The final product of the first TMO series is a conceptual Mars Exploration Suit, which is comprised of six layers of handwoven fabrics that are intended to be shed as humans adapt to Martian life. Lucas explains: “I have woven six protective layers; a radiation layer, three pressure layers, an oxygen and temperature layer, as well as a sensory membrane layer, which detects the biometrics of the body.”

Lucas has expanded the TMO series, with TMO: The Mars Odyssey II and TMO: The Mars Odyssey III further formulating the actual design of the suit and another series, which features handwoven space badges for the suit.