Since 2014, one of the marquee events at Comic-Con International is the Her Universe Fashion Show, a night where talented amateurs create glamorous, pop culture-themed runway looks with the hopes of winning a chance to design professionally. Like the fan-friendly Comic-Con itself, it’s a celebration, an opportunity and a safe space, according to Her Universe founder Ashley Eckstein.

“It’s a place where as fans we can come together and feel like we’re home,” Eckstein said in a Zoom interview on Tuesday, July 12. “We made a vow that as soon as we could come back together in person, we would.”

When the pandemic hit in 2020, it soon swept away any hope of mass gatherings and thus, any chance of Comic-Con and the fashion show returning to the San Diego Convention Center that year – an “emotional rollercoaster,” Eckstein said.

That July, the date of what would have been the show arrived and brought with it a wave of uncertainty for Eckstein; she recalled feeling like her mind was playing tricks on her. Isolated by lockdown orders and in mourning for what should have been a day of celebration, she began questioning herself: Would the show ever happen again? Would anyone miss it? Did anyone really care? 

Then she received a gift on her doorstep: a unity quilt collaboratively made by designers from previous Her Universe Fashion Shows, using square patches of cloth from their past creations. 

“Since they couldn’t have a show, they all wanted to come together and still do something to show how much our fashion show meant to them,” Eckstein recalled. “I have never cried so many tears – I mean, it was like an ugly, sloppy cry. I was just so blown away by their kindness, and generosity of their time and creative efforts to share that with us.”

Her questions were answered. She and her team became determined to bring the show back.

“We truly realized how much our show meant to people – that it was more than a show, it was more than a competition,” Eckstein said. “Our show was a community, a community of designers, and it just meant so much to people.”

Due to safety precautions, the next Her Universe Fashion Show was produced in a virtual format in November of 2021 during Comic-Con@ Home. The event was streamed live on YouTube and audiences, who traditionally pick one of the two winners, could vote for their choice by email. 

This year, the show, free for Comic-Con attendees of all ages, returns to its usual setting at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel as an in-person event on Thursday, July 21 at 6 p.m. PT. 

The theme? “Coming Home.”

“It’s really going to be a celebration of everyone coming together,” Eckstein said, “and the fact that we’re home – that we’re back.”

Community and connection

In a return to form, the show will highlight geek couture looks from 26 designers competing for the opportunity to create a fashion collection for Hot Topic. Two winners will be chosen; one by the audience and one by a panel of judges that include fashion industry experts and past winners. Surprise guests sometimes appear; in 2018, actress Jodie Whittaker made a dramatic runway entrance ahead of her historic debut as the first female Time Lord in “Doctor Who.”

Previous shows have featured the work of several designers from across Southern California who created looks inspired by movies and TV shows that range from “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park” to “Sailor Moon” and “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” 

Joining Eckstein as a co-host this year is celebrity drag queen and songwriter Nina West, who rose to fame while competing on season 11 of Ru-Paul’s Drag Race. During the pandemic, Eckstein said she “slid into Nina’s DMs” to ask to collaborate on “On Our Sleeves,” a mental health awareness campaign at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. That’s also where West is an advocate for her hometown’s LGBTQ+ community.

During and after the collaboration, they struck up a fast friendship. Besides being one of her favorite people on the planet, “Nina is just an icon,” Eckstein said. “I mean, there’s literally a street named after Nina West in Columbus, Ohio.”

In past interviews and in her 2018 memoir-slash-workbook, “It’s Your Universe,” Eckstein has been outspoken on inclusivity, anti-bullying and destigmatizing discussions around mental health. Historically, the Her Universe message has been one of celebrating and empowering the “outsiders” in fandom spaces that, until very recently, were primarily occupied by men. But recent current events from the overturning of Roe v. Wade to the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in several states have heightened the feeling of being unwelcome in certain spaces for some fans. 

Fostering environments of positivity where everyone feels safe and heard is her priority, she said.

“I think one of the worst feelings in the world is to feel invisible,” Eckstein said. “That’s my goal every day, is how can I just make someone feel safe and supported, accepted and empowered.”

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What we need right now, more than ever, is “community and connection,” Eckstein said. She’s seen that from her work in mental health spaces – she recently collaborated with Lucasfilm to launch “Star Wars Mindful Moments,”a series of shorts for children on mindfulness and mental health. She’s felt it on her trips to recent conventions for panels and meet-and-greets with fans of her years of work voicing character Ahsoka Tano in various “Star Wars” animated properties.

“It’s so obvious that we just need connection right now,” she said. “I’m just excited that we’re going to connect in person. It’s so good for our mental health. And I think it’s so needed after, you know, the past couple of years.”

SDCC is “in many ways, the home for our fandom soul,” as Eckstein put it. “It’s a place where as fans, we can come together, and we just feel like we’re home.”