Why is NASA promoting itself in street culture and with what money?

Hoodies, sweatshirts, T-shirts and much more – if you pay attention to passers-by, you can easily find that things with the NASA emblem have flooded cities around the world. Why, how it happened and what is the trend, we understand together with the stylist.

stylist, image-maker

Things with NASA logo for the last few years are popular mainly among young people for several reasons.

Space was and still is out of reach for ordinary people. But while for some it is a real memory, for others it is romance, and for others it is science and technological discoveries.

How did the agency NASA appeared and what is it in general?

The history of NASA begins on October 1, 1958. The American government, depressed by the successes of the USSR in the space field, organized a new state unit, the tasks of which were the study of problems associated with flights inside and outside the atmosphere of the Earth.

The staff numbered 8 thousand people, and the budget allocated for the work of the enterprise – $ 100 million. At its disposal, the agency received three research laboratories: Langley, Ames and Lewis and two testing grounds for testing inventions. Immediately after the emergence of NASA began to work on major projects.

Now the agency continues to be involved with America’s space program and air-space exploration. However, the popularity of clothing with their logos has nothing to do with successes in the field of space.

The popularity of clothing with the “meatball” logo

“Meatball.”

The logo acquired its popular name after the reorganization of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The goal of simplifying the logo design to make it less formal emerged. The new design retained the blue circle (planet), stars (space), a flying vehicle footprint (space travel), a red wing profile (aeronautics), and the NASA lettering. People started calling the new logo “meatball”.

“Worm.”

Not long after the reorganization, the Danne & Blackburn studio was commissioned to rebrand the agency’s style. The changes turned out to be radical. The designers changed the complex architecture of the “meatball” to a simplified and futuristic version. The letter A resembled the nose fairing of a rocket, while N and S resembled a curved hose.

People are driven by global trends. Everyone is willing to buy and wear what is fashionable and something to be proud of. In its history, NASA has earned not only American but also global recognition, for its space missions and technological research.

We can also add that a great love for space continues to be created by the US movie industry, which endlessly glorifies the heroism and excellence of American astronauts.

Has NASA figured out a way to make a profit other than government funding?

Actually, no. It’s much simpler than that. Since NASA is entirely a U.S. government agency – it has no right to produce goods for commercial purposes. The fact is that absolutely any brand can use the logo of the agency, you just need to send a request to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And the latter has no restrictions.

It so happens that this way of cooperation with clothing and footwear brands – an opportunity for NASA to come down from heaven to earth and become more understandable and close to ordinary consumers.

The agency does not receive any interest from the sale of goods with its logo, which, in turn, is very beneficial to companies-manufacturers. They have the opportunity to raise sales at the expense of a popular logo. True, there is one “but” – the logo of the national office is prohibited to use on underwear.

stylist, image maker

NASA T-shirts and hoodies are perfect for everyday street and home looks, for walks, for dance classes and long flights – all thanks to comfortable cut, practical color and oversize.

I would say that NASA is definitely not an oversize, but a very comfortable element of a youth closet. But I must say that because of the rapidly growing popularity of the brand’s things and collaborations, the market is oversaturated with their things, but there are few beautiful and actual stylizations with NASA to be found on the Internet. Due to the fact that often things of the brand are used in the image illiterate and untrendy, it gives the impression that NASA things themselves are outdated. The good news is that this is not the case.

Collaborations with various clothing and accessory brands

If by some chance you have not seen a “space meatball” or “worm” in stores, then for a general understanding it is worth taking a look at these campaigns.

In collaboration with the Puma brand, the agency released sneakers for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 crew landing on the moon.

For several seasons, H&M stores around the world offered T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, bags and shoes.

Ariana Grande partnered with NASA to present her own merch at one of America’s largest music festivals, Coachella. The items were made using the brand’s signature “worm” styling.

Not all partners of the space agency are limited to creating classic clothing with the company logo. So, in 2018, designer Heron Preston released a capsule collection of streetwear in the style of astronaut equipment.

Daria offers two options for styling a T-shirt with the NASA logo:

• with accessories in a similar style to sportswear: militaria (e.g. aviator sunglasses), casual (sneakers), safari (jumpsuits);
• combine T-shirts with polar in style accessories: grunge earrings with spikes, romantic or infantile trend jewelry with pearls.

stylist, image-maker

One of the staples of the NASA collection is t-shirts. Most often their T-shirts are worn with everything sporty: sports pants, sneakers, down jacket, hat. If such stylization is close and comfortable to you, be sure to add to the image accessories polar in style: earrings-rings, massive chains or even watches. This way the image will not be 100% sporty, and thus will become complete and interesting.

Both options are interesting and will look fresh with NASA stuff. Choose the option for yourself depending on your style preferences, more calm (first) or contrasting (second).

For people absolutely do not care what logos on the clothes will be, they want something completely different. They want to radio back to Earth that the stars look different today, to be in the shoes of Mark Watney from the Ares 3 mission and try to grow potatoes on Mars. At the very least, to be able to retrace Neil Armstrong’s steps on the moon.

When we say the word NASA, we immediately imagine space and flights to distant stars. Don’t we?