{"id":23291,"date":"2022-07-23T13:33:42","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T13:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/why-everyones-wearing-nasa-branded-clothes\/"},"modified":"2022-07-23T13:33:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T13:33:42","slug":"why-everyones-wearing-nasa-branded-clothes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/why-everyones-wearing-nasa-branded-clothes\/","title":{"rendered":"Why everyone’s wearing NASA-branded clothes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n new York<\/span>
\n CNN Business<\/span>
\n \u2014
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On any given day, a thirty minute walk around New York City can yield at least a few NASA logo sightings. They’re on backpacks, t-shirts, sneakers, hats, sweatshirts, phone cases, tote bags and jackets.\n <\/p>\n

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Once you start noticing them, it’s hard to stop.\n <\/p>\n

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There have been several trend pieces about the phenomenon in recent years. And NASA’s multimedia liaison, Bert Ulrich \u2014 who oversees the use of NASA logos in film, TV and on apparel \u2014 confirms the demand for NASA branded apparel is far from petering out, at least based on the number of logo deals he’s been approving. He’s been in his role for more than two decades, so he’s seen the trends ebb and flow. (Mostly flow)\n <\/p>\n

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Some of the latest sales boom can be traced back to a surprising place: American luxury fashion house Coach, which debuted a line of NASA-branded apparel in 2017, Ulrich told CNN Business.\n <\/p>\n

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Coach originally approached NASA to ask if it could use the \u201cworm\u201d logo, the retro design that the space agency used from 1975 through 1992. NASA, which had barred the use of the worm after it was retired in the 90s, changed its opinion on the matter, allowing Coach to use the logo, Ulrich said. <\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

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And the \u201cworm\u201d has since returned to official use and cemented its widespread adoration, at least among diehard space fans.\n <\/p>\n

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\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After the line of Coach apparel came out, things blew up.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cBefore 2017, we did five or 10 [logo approvals] a week. It’s now come to the point that we get out on average 225 a week,\u201d Ulrich said.\n <\/p>\n

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Last year, there were \u201cover 11,000 requests,\u201d he said \u2014 an all-time high.\n <\/p>\n

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Not all of those requests get approved, Ulrich added. But the reason there’s so much interest in slapping NASA logos on everything from Vans sneakers to trucker hats may have something to do with the fact that these companies don’t have to license the logo. It’s all free of charge, and NASA doesn’t make a dime off it.\n <\/p>\n

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It’s not typically how licensing deals work, but, because NASA is a government agency, much of its assets \u2014 including photos, logos and even technology designs \u2014 are in the public domain. If a company wants to print NASA logos on t-shirts or coffee mugs, it just has to send an email to NASA’s merchandising department, per the legal requirements. Usually, it lands in Ulrich’s inbox.\n <\/p>\n

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Ulrich’s job is just to ensure that the logo is used in a way that’s consistent with the space Agency’s approved aesthetic guidelines. No using unapproved colors, for example. And, of course, NASA wants to make sure its brand isn’t used for any untoward<\/em> purposes, such as in a way that suggests that NASA endorses a company or product. If a company misuses the logo, NASA’s legal office will often send a cease and desist letter, Ulrich said.\n <\/p>\n

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After Coach released its line of NASA apparel, high-end designers including Heron Preston and, more recently, Balenciaga, released their own lines. Pop singer Ariana Grande had a song and an entire merchandising line about NASA. There was also Adidas, Swatch, Vans and countless others within the past decade.\n <\/p>\n

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Through this lens, it’s possible to explain the phenomenon through what we’ll call the \u201cMiranda Preistly effect.\u201d Remember that scene in 2006’s \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d in which Priestly, Meryl Streep’s character, verbally dresses down her young, fashion-inept intern? She explains that the blue sweater she’s wearing is actually \u201ccerulean,\u201d and it’s as much a product of fashion-obsessed industry tycoons as anything on the runway. Essentially, Priestly argued, designers and the fashion media curate the trends, and even the least fashion-interested consumers are influenced by those decisions.\n <\/p>\n

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\n \"A<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But that’s only half the story, according to Jahn <\/strong>Hall, the creative director of Brooklyn-based design agency Consortium, which works on set design and styling for various brands.\n <\/p>\n

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Before Coach, kids were buying NASA t-shirts from vintage stores because they loved the nostalgic feel, the wistfulness of a piece of classic Americana, Hall said.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cYou start with kids in cities like New York buying like, old Disney product or old NASA t-shirts, and then suddenly some like ‘cool hunter’ in the fashion industry, like at Urban Outfitters, sees it and suddenly goes, ‘We should turn some NASA-branded t-shirts around,’\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt’s kind of a reverse engineering of trends.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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It was probably only after the \u201ccool kids\u201d started wearing NASA T-shirts on the streets that designer brands picked up on it and sold it back to them.\n <\/p>\n

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Hall, the Brooklyn-based creative director, said, in his mind, donning the NASA logo is far more about brandishing what the logo represents than declaring one’s love of outer space.\n <\/p>\n

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It represents \u201cthat sort of quintessential American optimism that we can do anything,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

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It’s politically unaffiliated, he added, and can be marketed to young liberals and rural conservatives alike, drumming up that same nostalgia.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe folks who work for brands like Heron Preston and Balenciaga are as enamored by the fantasy of space travel as anyone else. Nobody is immune from that level of nostalgia so it makes sense that these brands would want to build that into their own collections,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

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It’s happened with other logos and franchises, he notes, like Balenciaga doing projects with \u201cThe Simpsons\u201d or Coach with Mickey Mouse.\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cThese enduring symbols speak to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status. Not everyone may connect with either Heron Preston or Target, but everyone gets the modern Americana of brands like NASA, Disney, Peanuts and The Simpsons,\u201d he said. \u201cThings like NASA sort of act like this magic equalizer.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

new York CNN Business \u2014 On any given day, a thirty minute walk around New York City can yield at least a few NASA logo sightings. They’re on backpacks, t-shirts, sneakers, hats, sweatshirts, phone cases, tote bags and jackets. Once you start noticing them, it’s hard to stop. There have been several trend pieces about …<\/p>\n

Why everyone’s wearing NASA-branded clothes<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4],"tags":[597,4207,329,4383,10300,10301,1522,10149,4384,10299,9138,10302,6604,10295,10296,10298,9145,10297],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15591,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/casios-new-g-shock-watch-is-inspired-by-nasas-eye-catching-orange-spacesuits\/","url_meta":{"origin":23291,"position":0},"title":"Casio’s new G-Shock watch is inspired by NASA’s eye-catching orange spacesuits","date":"July 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Casio has launched a new G-Shock model with a bold color that would look instantly familiar to space fans. It takes its eye-catching hue from the iconic orange suits astronauts wear for the ascent and entry portions of their flight so that they could be easily spotted by rescue teams\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19870,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nasa-delays-viper-lunar-rover-launch-by-a-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":23291,"position":1},"title":"NASA delays VIPER lunar rover launch by a year","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"WASHINGTON \u2014 NASA has delayed the launch of an ice-prospecting lunar rover by a year to perform more testing of its commercial lander, the agency announced July 18. NASA said it is delaying the launch of its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission from November 2023 to November 2024.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1309,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/yes-boeings-starliner-spacecraft-really-could-fly-astronauts-this-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":23291,"position":2},"title":"Yes, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft really could fly astronauts this year","date":"July 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"enlarge \/ Boeing's Orbital Flight Test-2 mission launches on May 19, 2022.Trevor Mahlmann Five weeks have passed since Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned from a largely successful test flight to the International Space Station, and the company continues to review data from the mission alongside engineers from NASA. So far, there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19104,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nasa-delays-launch-of-rover-designed-to-search-and-drill-for-water-on-the-moon\/","url_meta":{"origin":23291,"position":3},"title":"NASA delays launch of rover designed to search and drill for water on the Moon","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA is delaying the flight of its VIPER rover \u2014 a specialized bot designed to hunt for water on the surface of the Moon. Originally set to embark on its lunar expedition in November of 2023, VIPER is now targeting a launch in November of 2024 in order to allow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/220708165205-man-wearing-nasa-bomber-jacket-london-fashion-week.jpg?c=16x9&q=w_800,c_fill","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}