Invitation to the exhibition of Luuks Speespakken (Space Suits), Iris de Leeuw, 1966

printing, h 205mm × w 430mm More details
© Iris de Leeuw

For Iris de Leeuw, who was a member of the artists’ group Luuks Laboratorium/Ontbijt op bed, Constant’s New Babylon inspired her to design a new type of clothing. The speespak, or ‘space suit’, was the daily outfit of ‘playing man,’ who populates the new world. Unzippable trouser legs made it possible to adapt to any situation, and exchanging trouser legs with one another encouraged communication. The ‘space suit’ was an instrument in the modernisation of the social space.