Ever since man first took flight into space, the moon has functioned as the galaxy’s most exclusive club: from Neil Armstrong to Buzz Aldrin, only the lucky few have been permitted past the bouncers.The moon’s VIP list is poised to get a little more crowded in 2023, when noted merch king Elon Musk’s company SpaceX will reportedly send a clutch of artists out of the stratosphere to explore la lune. The expedition will be led by none other than Yusaku Maezawa, the billionaire founder of Japanese custom-fit clothing company Zozo.
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Real art heads will remember Maezawa from his January purchase of a $110.5 million Basquiat, which was the star of its very own Brooklyn Museum show last winter. During a Tuesday press conference on the SpaceX factory floor, Musk told the crowd that Maezawa had already put down a deposit for a ride on SpaceX's BFR rocket. (In case you forgot about Maezawa's hefty art purchase, don't worry! He wore a handy T-shirt printed with the Basquiat to the press conference.)The New York Times reports that Maezawa plans to bring five to eight other artists with him on his voyage as part of a project called Dear Moon. According to the project's website, Maezawa wants “a painter, musician, film director, fashion designer…“ and more to join him on his SpaceX flight, citing Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso, and John Lennon as the types of luminaries he'd like to explore the moon with. But will they be willing to take flight? After all, the safety of SpaceX flights is still somewhat in question.“How does one earn a billion dollars making custom-fit clothing?” you ask, your brow furrowed in confusion. Luckily for you, we did some digging into the Zozo empire and are here to answer all your questions about the brand that turned Maezawa into a moon mogul.According to a Reuters article from July, the Zozo process works thus: users upload photographs of themselves wearing the skintight Zozosuit in order to create a perfect fit profile for the clothes they order. Below, find a video of youths enjoying themselves in the Zozosuit, as youths are wont to do.PSA: Video aside, the suit is not, as my colleague Rachel Tashjian and I originally thought, meant to be worn on its own. In our defense, the polka-dot Zozosuit bears a more-than-passing resemblance to Marine Serre's moon-print catsuit.“The time where people adapt to clothing is over, this is a new era where clothes adapt to people,“ Maezawa told Reuters. Friends, we are truly living in the space age! I, for one, can't wait to see how Maezawa and his artist friends dress the aliens.