San Diego Comic-Con to Feature First-Ever Geek Couture Fashion Show

Star Wars is so hot right now — it is even hotter than the magma Hayden Christensen fell into that one time. During fashion month, Force-infused designs were featured on runways in both New York and London, and both mostly consisted of slapping Darth Vader prints on billowy dresses and calling it a day. Those of you who would prefer a more literal/dramatic interpretation of the series are in luck: this weekend, Her Universe announced that it will be presenting the first full-scale “geek couture” fashion and design competition at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

“Fangirls are already using the halls of San Diego Comic-Con International as their runway to showcase custom fashions,” Her Universe founder Ashley Eckstein said in a statement. “We wanted to give these designers a bigger stage to share their talent and also provide an educational experience in the fashion industry.”

According to the contest rules, 30 designers will be selected to compete in the Her Universe Fashion show, which will take place on July 24th. All submissions must be “geek couture” inspired fashion, not costumes, and they can be based on “anything that is celebrated at Comic-Con.” Here are some suggestions, per the Her Universe website:

A panel of judges will choose one winner, and the audience will vote on a second. As a grand prize, both victors will be given the opportunity to co-design a Her Universe collection with Eckstein and Hot Topic.

Her Universe partner Michael Rego says that the company is “excited to shine the spotlight on female fans and fashion” (male designers are welcome to enter too, by the way, but all designs must be womenswear). It’s exciting to see Comic-Con working to appeal to female fans; it’s also wonderful that we’ll be getting more geek-inspired fashion — because, seriously, one can only order from Black Milk so many times.

And, on another note, it’s about goddamn time Darth Vader gets the sartorial credit he so deserves.