
"Her Universe was growing so much that it needed bigger parents, it need more infrastructure, it needed more support," Eckstein said. She said that she now has the resources to create more clothing lines and to expand her collections to the plus-sized community more easily. Retail sales for licensed products grew to $251.7 billion in 2015, according to the 2016 International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association's Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey.Īpparel sales alone were a 15.1 percent slice of that total, coming in at $37.9 billion.Įckstein said that fans can expect to see more fashion collections from Her Universe in the future because of the support the brand has gotten after it was acquired by Hot Topic last year. Not to mention, the shiny material is a play on Phasma's glinting silver armor.Įckstein's company is competing in a growing market. The red piping mimics the red stripe on Phasma's cape, while the stitching designs on the torso are indicative of the ribbing of the character's under armor. The Captain Phasma jacket, in particular, takes inspiration from the character but isn't an overtly "Star Wars" design. That was the inspiration behind many of the looks that Platt and Cercone created for the collection, especially for pieces like the Captain Phasma jacket, Rey's hooded cardigan and Finn's jacket. "You want to be inspired by your favorite character, you even want to look like your favorite character, but you don't want to wear a costume," Eckstein said. The winners of the 2015 fashion show, Leetal Platt and Kelly Cercone, helped design the looks in the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" fashion line. The fan designers help to bring fresh ideas to the company and stay close to what fans want in their geek fashion.

The winning designers are brought on board to work with the Hot Topic team in creating a new collection. Starting in 2014, Her Universe has hosted an annual fashion show at San Diego Comic-Con. Many of the collection's pieces are designed by actual fans. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or LowerĪt Star Wars Celebration Orlando in April this year, Kennedy wore another one of Her Universe's designs.Įckstein said that the brand sold out of almost all its merchandise the during the convention this year, noting that she expects to see a boost in sales now that the Celebration collection is available online.

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