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Glam Voyage – Blue Origin’s NS-31 All-Female Flight

Posted by Eleonora de Gray on

Glam Voyage – Blue Origin’s NS-31 All-Female Flight. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo / Video Courtesy: Blue Origin / Lauren Sanchez / Fernando Garcia / Monse.

On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin launched its 11th human spaceflight—and its most headline-catching yet. The NS-31 mission, an 11-minute suborbital journey reaching the edge of space, carried six high-profile women aboard its New Shepard capsule in what was billed as the company’s first all-female crewed flight.

With a hefty $150,000 ticket price per seat, the flight is more than a technical milestone—it’s a carefully curated moment of media spectacle, cloaked in inspiration, philanthropy, and yes, designer fashion.

Blue Origin’s NS-31 All-Female Flight – The Crew

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Lauren Sánchez
Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, Emmy-winning journalist, and now children’s book author, Sánchez was also the face of this mission. Her glow-in-the-dark book The Fly Who Flew to Space, a tale of a dyslexic fly that accidentally stumbles aboard a rocket, was timed perfectly with the launch—an obvious synergy between personal branding and Bezos-funded promotion. The inspirational message of “dreaming big” is bittersweet when one recalls the price tag of this dream.

Katy Perry
Global pop superstar and philanthropist, Perry flew the flag for arts and advocacy. Her presence adds massive visibility and celebrity weight to the project. Fittingly, her mission patch icon was a firework—referencing her global hit and her nonprofit Firework Foundation, dedicated to empowering children through the arts.

Amanda Nguyễn
A Harvard-trained scientist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and space advocate, Nguyễn brought the flight back to its scientific roots. Her mission patch featured scales of justice—a symbol of her civil rights work. She also represents a deeper geopolitical narrative, being the first Vietnamese woman in space, as a gesture of U.S.-Vietnam reconciliation.

Aisha Bowe
A former NASA rocket scientist turned tech entrepreneur, Bowe is the first Bahamian to reach space. She brought with her postcards from students around the world and led onboard microgravity experiments, a sincere nod to real science and STEM advocacy.

Gayle King
Broadcast veteran and editor-at-large of Oprah Daily, King lent a grounded voice to this sky-high venture. Her mission patch featured a shooting star microphone—highlighting her journalistic storytelling ethos.

Kerianne Flynn
Philanthropist and film producer, Flynn’s symbol was a film reel, pointing to her work on This Changes Everything and LILLY—films addressing gender equity and justice.

The Look: Monse in Space

Forget clunky NASA suits—these women soared in custom neoprene ensembles created by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, co-founders of Monse. While both also serve as co-creative directors at Oscar de la Renta, these flame-resistant, stretch-fitted flight suits were exclusively designed under the Monse label. Inspired by ski and motocross aesthetics, the suits fused sleek tailoring with utility—a blend of performance wear and editorial-worthy design.

The fashion was futuristic, feminine, and functional, echoing the mission’s wider goal: celebrating women’s leadership, visibility, and voice.

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Beyond the Glow

Despite the sparkle—and there was a lot of it—there are questions that deserve to be asked.

Lauren Sánchez’s children’s book features a dyslexic fly who “stumbles” into a rocket. The metaphor is intended to inspire children to dream boldly, but the context is conveniently omitted: tickets for Blue Origin’s suborbital joyride cost $150,000. A child with dyslexia or without financial privilege will not simply “wander into a rocket.”

This mission, for all its messaging about accessibility and hope, remains a luxury—one more attainable to pop stars, tech entrepreneurs, and billionaires’ partners than to the everyday dreamer.

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Are we really democratizing space? Or is this the space version of a designer handbag—symbolic, aspirational, and out of reach for most?

The NS-31 flight is undoubtedly a triumph of visibility and storytelling. These six women are each accomplished and inspirational in their own right. Their narratives are valid. Their voices, powerful. But the message to the next generation must be framed with truth: the real fuel behind this rocket isn’t just ambition. It’s access, privilege, and funding.

Dreaming is vital. But dreaming alone doesn’t buy a seat on a rocket. Investing in real access to education, resources, and equitable opportunity might.



Posted from Paris, Quartier des Invalides, France.