Space Invaders

It all started with those Balenciaga leggings. Reminiscent of Star Wars' C3PO, that one pair of gold-plated pants managed to spark an industry-wide intergalactic fascination that's still going strong today, inspiring pieces from the avant-garde to the charmingly kitsch.

The autumn/winter '08 runways were once again full of sci-fi references. However, rather than the overt nods to the genre seen in recent collections, this season's are more subtle. Rag & Bone cited Blade Runner as a key inspiration for their fall collection, putting a dapper twist on its 1940-meets-2019 silhouettes and angular lines. Jonathan Saunders took his cues from classic sci-fi, toning down sharp, armor-esque pleating and paneled dresses with subdued earth tones. Perhaps the most obvious space references were displayed at Copenhagen Fashion Week, where Wood Wood showed us what we'll be wearing if we ever colonize outer space. And it's a lot more recognizable than you might think, with plaid shirts and blazers for boys and mauve boilersuits for the girls—some dotted with astrological symbols to drive the point home.

If this all sounds a bit too serious, a handful of accessories designers are providing a more whimsical interpretation of the theme. Knox is a Brooklyn-based handbag label that counts "space vehicles and natural galactic shapes and colors" among its references, combining metallic plating and chevron details to an effect that's humorous, yet still seriously covetable. Svenja Timme-Bastian takes the trend to luxury heights, using gold, rubies, emeralds and sapphires to create jewelry influenced by futuristic architecture, deep-sea life and dreamlike shapes. "There's something inspiring about the design in futuristic films," explains Timme-Bastian. "You see all these great buildings of the future, and they're so beautiful, yet architecturally daring. I like to envision what a cool design could be in 2060, but at the end of the day, I really just want to create beautiful things."

—Erin Magner