San Diego Comic-Con has returned as an in-person event for the first time since 2019, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars voice actress Ashley Eckstein will be back on the runway once more for the 8th annual Her Universe Fashion Show. The event has celebrated fandom fashion at SDCC going back to 2014, and is returning on July 21 with the fitting theme of “Coming Home” after going virtual last year. Eckstein spoke with CinemaBlend about the return to SDCC, and the “number one rule” for the fashion show.
Eckstein may be best known for her voice work as Ahsoka Tano for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and then later Star Wars Rebels, but the Her Universe Fashion Show isn’t all about that galaxy far, far away. She weighed in on the importance of showcasing many different fandoms, saying:
That's been our number one rule in terms of – you know, the theme of our show is that the designers can design a look inspired by anything that's celebrated at Comic-Con. And that's very broad. That rule is important to us because we want our show to represent San Diego Comic-Con, and so that means that it has to represent the entirety of the show. I just think it's so cool that we've had couture designs in the past inspired by everything from Bob's Burgers to Silence of the Lambs to My Little Pony to DuckTales. We’ve had everything hit the runway, and that's what you get to experience at Comic-Con. There's something for everyone. You will definitely continue to see that theme in our show this year.
Just as cosplayers design costumes to show off their fandom love at San Diego Comic-Con and other fan conventions, designers of what Eckstein describes as “geek couture” get to show off their creations on the runway for the fashion show. If ever there was a place where Silence of the Lambs could be honored by fans alongside My Little Pony, then that place is SDCC. The winners in 2021 celebrated Pokémon, The Queen’s Gambit, and The Mandalorian.
Although fans will have to wait until the Her Universe Fashion Show on July 21 to see the latest and greatest in geek couture that will be on display, Ashley Eckstein has already shared why “Coming Home” was the only theme that the Her Universe team considered for 2022. She explained:
This was such a natural theme. The theme is always based upon kind of how we're feeling each year and it comes about naturally, so it was a no-brainer for the theme to be 'Coming Home' because that's how we feel, and it's really twofold. San Diego Comic-Con for fandom is home… As a fan, whenever you're at San Diego Comic-Con, it just feels like you're home. It's such a safe place. It's such a place that brings joy and happiness. So I just feel like from a fandom standpoint, it feels like we're coming home, and then from the Her Universe Fashion Show standpoint, San Diego Comic-Con is also our home. You know, we founded the show at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014, and it's been our home ever since. So it's a natural theme, and it's going to be such a celebration this year.
RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Nina West is joining Ashley Eckstein for this celebration, as they’ll co-host the show after they happened to collaborate on a completely different project. San Diego Comic-Con attendees can experience the Her Universe Fashion Show for themselves on Thursday, July 21 at 6 p.m. PT in the Harbor Ballroom of the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, with the doors opening at 5:15 p.m.
The fashion show is just the latest of Ashley Eckstein’s projects in 2022, as she debuted another Star Wars series to celebrate May the 4th. Star Wars Mindful Matters (which Eckstein created, wrote, and hosted) guides viewers through mindful exercises through the lens of Star Wars. She has shared that the videos will be available in “every single Walt Disney World Resort,” as well as on a Disney cruise ship later this year.
If you can’t make the in-person fashion show this year, you can always enjoy the Mindful Matters series. You can also revisit the saga of Ahsoka Tano with a Disney+ subscription, with the full runs of both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels (which she recommends watching ahead of the Ahsoka series) available streaming.
