During San Diego Comic-Con last week, we caught up with Her Universe founder, Ashley Eckstein,  and Hot Topic’s Andrea Lewis to talk about the 9th annual Her Universe Fashion Show. The event took place last week during San Diego Comic-Con and celebrated 100 years of Disney with a standing-room-only crowd of 2,000 fans. The show featured a one-of-a-kind couture design by Ashley Eckstein, performances by Michael James Scott, and 25 talented designers from around the country.

Her Universe Fashion Show Interview with Ashley Eckstein and Hot Topic’s Andrea Lewis

During San Diego Comic-Con last week, we caught up with Her Universe founder, Ashley Eckstein,  and Hot Topic’s Andrea Lewis.

Monica Duarte (Temple of Geek): Congratulations on a super successful show, at least from the audience’s perspective. That was the most incredible show I had ever been to, and I’ve been coming since 2018. What was it like for you? Would you call it a success?

Ashley Eckstein (Founder of Her Universe): Oh, my gosh. I mean, yes, I think that the fact that we had a full house and, you know, our show is truly about the fans. That’s what it’s always been about. And so to see a full house, to hear the cheers, to feel the energy and electricity in the room. That’s what matters. You know, there’s always little things that go wrong. And part of my dress fell off. And, you know, of course, you forget lines, but none of that matters. It’s really when you hear those cheers and to see how excited everyone is to be there, that’s why it’s a success.

Monica Duarte:  There are so many emotional moments. It was really beautiful to see. What were your favorite moments last night?

Andrea Lewis (Vice President of Brand Marketing at Hot Topic): I really love… this sound so strange, but every single time a designer walks out and I can see the pride on their face, walking their dress. It actually, it makes me really emotional because I know how long these designers worked on their design. And just imagining their feeling of when they got the call that they were being picked, all the way through, you know, seeing their dress walk down the runway and that come to fruition.

I mean, it really is just an incredible feeling because you can tell the heart and soul and love and care and thoughtfulness that they put into every stitch and every bead and every, you know, every single moment that they touch that design. It’s just it’s really, really incredible. The show goes by very fast for me because it really feels like it started and then it’s over and I can’t believe it. Seeing the look on their face when they’re walking down the runway and they just are owning their look. It’s amazing.

Ashley Eckstein: And I also have to give a shout-out to my co-host, Michael James Scott. You know, I got to share a nice throwback Thursday photo during the show because Michael and I have been friends since high school. Literally, we’ve known each other since I was in ninth grade. He was in 10th grade. We did theater together. We were theater kids. And now he’s one of the biggest stars on Broadway. So to share the stage with him last night and really just to live our childhood dreams up there, and he’s literally the epitome of, you know, if you can dream it, you can do it. And I was just so proud to share the stage with him and that was a dream come true.

Andrea Lewis: And that was lovely to watch from the audience, to watch Ashley and Michael together. It was really their rapport up there together. Not just host and co-host, but I mean, you could tell that the love and the friendship was there, so it was so fun to watch them riff off each other. It was great.

Monica Duarte: And speaking of friendship, because it’s always a theme of at the Her Universe Fashion Show. Through every show, you get that feeling of friendship. Can you tell us a little bit about the friendship between Her Universe and Hot Topic?

Ashley Eckstein: Gosh, I mean, it’s beyond friendship. It’s family. Her Universe would not be what it is today without Hot Topic. I mean, I founded [Her Universe] in June of 2010, and then I think I met the Hot Topic team just under two years after I founded it. And they were one of the first partners that brought Her Universe into retail. You believed in the brand from day one. And we kind of grew the brand together. So now it’s just such an honor that Her Universe is a part of the Hot Topic family of brands. And Andrea has been a part of it from the beginning. I mean, we’re family.

Andrea Lewis: It’s been really, really great because as Ashley mentioned, we’ve worked with Her Universe before Her Universe became officially part of our family of brands. And watching the Her Universe brand grow. And I’m not only talking about, you know, growth of selection of merchandise, but just the designs grow and the designs evolve and really speaking to what the fans want. Listening to what the fans want and being able to, you know, adjust and update silhouettes and add pockets to dresses and just all of those wonderful things.

And then to watch, you know, Her Universe, the social channels grow and Her Universe has a brand ambassador group now. I mean, there’s so many great things about the brand that have grown, and it’s been really wonderful to watch that growth of the brand.

The Her Universe Fashion Show

Ashley Eckstein opened the show with a groundbreaking couture design that combined technology and fashion. The design featured flexible OLED screens that wrapped around her like a film strip, playing video content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. Disney Producer & Director John Gleim curated the video content with Eckstein, and designer Andrew MacLaine created the look.

Special co-host Michael James Scott wore two couture looks designed by Andrew MacLaine (Genie and Darth Vader) and one by Kristi Siedow-Thompson (Thanos). He also serenaded the audience with performances of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Disney’s Cinderella and “Friend Like Me” from Disney’s hit Broadway musical Aladdin.

The evening was a love letter to the fans, with Ashley Eckstein and Michael James Scott giving away a multitude of incredible prizes, including a new Ahsoka Tano lightsaber set, Disney on Broadway prize packs, premium figures from Sideshow Collectibles, D23 Gold Memberships, FŪL Bags Disney Minnie Mouse Rolling Luggage 3 Piece Set, and a three-night stay in a two-bedroom villa at the brand new The Villas at Disneyland® Hotel.

Fans at the center 

The excitement reached a new peak when it was announced that the winning designers would create two collections for Her Universe: one with Hot Topic and one for Disney Parks. The winners were selected from an audience vote and a judging panel that included 2022 Her Universe Fashion Show winners Cindy Guillermo and Michael Burson, SVP Hot Topic Merchandising Robin Motts, Director of Concept Art and Story Development at Disney Consumer Products George McClements, and actor, artist, and owner of Bungalow Modern Bret Iwan.