Once used to catch comet dust, aerogel now inspires futuristic fashion and cloud-like sculptures
In the 1990s, NASA needed something radical. A substance that could gently trap dust from a passing comet without damaging it. What they found was aerogel—a ghostly, blue-tinged solid that’s 99% air. And decades later, that same technology is making waves in haute couture and fine art studios.
This otherworldly material, once rocketed into space, now sits at the heart of cloud sculptures, luxury jewelry, and even high-fashion runway bags. Greek artist Ioannis Michaloudis has spent more than two decades shaping aerogel’s poetic form into something much more than a space tool—he’s made it beautiful.
From catching comets to catching light
Aerogel isn’t something you come across every day. Originally used on NASA’s Stardust mission, it was chosen for a specific reason: softness. It had to catch fast-moving particles from a comet’s tail without pulverizing them on contact.
That’s where NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) stepped in. Engineers there needed to make a fragile, barely-there material space-tough. So they brought in materials scientist Steve Jones. With his expertise and a custom-built reactor, JPL figured out how to make aerogel that could survive a space mission. And it did.
Then, the unexpected happened.
Ioannis Michaloudis heard about the Stardust success. He wasn’t a scientist—he was chasing clouds, literally. His dream was to create three-dimensional, floating clouds. A researcher at MIT pointed him toward aerogel. One look, and Michaloudis was hooked.
One artist, three continents, and a cosmic material
Michaloudis’s fascination led him across the globe. He started at MIT in Cambridge, traveled to Shivaji University in India, and then headed to JPL in California.
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At MIT, he learned the science behind the dream—how aerogel is made by mixing a polymer with a solvent and then drying it under pressure.
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In India, he found ways to scale it. Recipes that allowed him to shape it into bigger pieces, without the annoying cracking or shrinking.
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At JPL, Jones showed him the ropes: what worked, what didn’t, and how to handle it safely.
Each stop on the map gave Michaloudis a piece of the puzzle. And eventually, it gave birth to something completely new: aerogel art.
Floating clouds, glowing bags, and high fashion buzz
By the time 2020 rolled around, Michaloudis had turned aerogel into his main medium. And the art world started to notice.
His ethereal sculptures don’t just look like clouds—they feel like dreams. The aerogel, with its barely-there density and strange glow, gives his pieces an almost alien quality. It casts orange shadows. It can even withstand molten metal. Yeah, it’s that tough.
Then came the Coperni moment.
In 2024, the French fashion label Coperni showcased a handbag crafted from aerogel. It looked like it belonged in a sci-fi movie. Luminous, weightless, fragile—but sturdy enough to walk the runway. The bag took social media by storm, with fashion critics calling it “the future in your hand.”
A year earlier, French luxury jeweler Boucheron used a piece of aerogel in a pendant centerpiece. Encased in quartz, it floated like magic around the neck. And just like that, Michaloudis’s dream clouds reached red carpets and runways.
What makes aerogel so… unreal?
Here’s a snapshot of what makes this material special:
| Property | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| 99% air | It’s incredibly light—lighter than Styrofoam |
| Translucent blue | Gives it an eerie, dream-like visual aesthetic |
| Can withstand heat | Survives contact with molten metals |
| Porous structure | Ideal for trapping particles or holding perfume |
| Shadow casting | It glows orange when light passes through it |
It’s not just about looks. Artists like Michaloudis are exploring how these properties can serve emotion, story, and meaning. His cloud sculptures aren’t just pretty—they’re philosophical. A comment on fragility, atmosphere, and the ephemeral nature of existence.
Not just science, not just art—something new altogether
This crossover—where space tech becomes sculpture, where labs feed the runway—feels like something bigger. A new type of fusion where boundaries dissolve.
In Michaloudis’s own words, aerogel is “poetry in solid form.” You could argue it’s also proof that old tech doesn’t have to die. It can be reborn, reshaped, and reimagined into forms that surprise us.
Jones, now retired, couldn’t have predicted that the reactor he built for Stardust would one day help create a handbag that lit up Paris Fashion Week. But maybe that’s the whole point. Innovation doesn’t always stop where it starts.
And Michaloudis? He’s still out there. Still making clouds. Still showing the world that even something built to catch space dust can end up stirring human hearts.
