Anurita Chandola
Anurita Chandola is a British Asian artist and Spacewear designer, whose work draws deeply from her Indian heritage. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, she began her research into clothing for future space travellers during her time there. With a focus on well-being and sustainable fashion, she delves into the intersection of fashion and space exploration. Her journey into sustainability started with cultural lessons on resourcefulness, and this later expanded to address the human experience of living on Mars. Anurita stresses the importance of prioritising the emotional and psychological needs of humans as we venture into space, recognising the need for connection, comfort, and meaning in an unfamiliar world.
She has worked with the “Building a Martian House” project in Bristol, U.K., where she led the development of textiles and clothing for the Martian Habitat. This public art initiative explored the challenges humanity will face as we look to expand life beyond the Earth. The project brought together a diverse group of artists, scientists, architects, engineers, school children, and the wider public to collaboratively design and build a full-scale Martian house. Anurita led textiles workshops with school children inside the habitat, later transforming the textiles created during these sessions into spacesuits, bed sheets, duvets, pillows, and mattresses for the house. Her work reflects an innovative approach to sustainable textiles and clothing for Mars, incorporating food waste and zero-waste fabric cutting methods.
The spacesuits she created for the Martian House were later showcased at HSBC headquarters in London, as part of the ACROSS & OVER exhibition, a collaboration with HSBC and Royal College of Art. This project highlighted the diverse skills and perspectives of multidisciplinary practitioners as they address global issues and break barriers through their unique approaches.
In May 2025, her spacesuit will be featured in an international exhibition at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA), Bristol, as part of the ‘Soft Power’ exhibition. This exhibition builds on themes from the forthcoming book ‘Reading the Thread: Cloth and Communication’ (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025), edited by curators Lesley Millar and Alice Kettle. The exhibition brings together an international group of artists, exploring the transformative potential of space—not only as a catalyst for creativity but also as a means for reflective “remembering,” documenting the past while envisioning the future.
Currently, Anurita is exploring the challenges of designing clothing for life beyond Earth, particularly in the context of upcoming Mars missions. She is working on creating a special occasion dress for Mars using parachute fabric from ‘Heathcoat Fabrics’—the same material used to land NASA’s Perseverance rover. On Mars, where every resource is valuable, humans will need to be innovative and make the most of what’s already available. Drawing on this idea, Anurita is currently working on repurposing the parachute fabric, which has already made its way to the planet, transforming it into a garment for special occasions—showcasing how even the most limited materials can be reimagined and reused creatively. She believes that by embracing sustainable practices, we can create a wardrobe that not only meets the needs of future space travellers but also inspires a shift in how we live today.