Interview with Ashley Eckstein - Her Universe Fashion Show

[00:00:00] Hi Ashley, my name is Jenna with TEMPLE OF GEEK and here at TEMPLE OF GEEK I'm also the host of the Portrait of a Fan Girl podcast where we discuss how fandom has empowered women both professionally and personally. We're huge fans of her universe here.

[00:00:13] Oh gosh well first of all thank you so much for chatting with me today and I truly appreciate your support and also just the attention that you're bringing to fan girls in this space

[00:00:25] is so important and so yeah I'm thrilled to be chatting with you today about nine years of the Her Universe Fashion Show. How did this journey begin for you? What did it look like at the very beginning?

[00:00:35] Well as with everything with her universe and with my own kind of personal journey it's always been inspired by the fans sometimes my own personal fandom and sometimes by you know the fan community and the Her Universe Fashion Show was directly inspired by the fans.

[00:00:55] I've been going to San Diego Comic-Con since 2007 and over the years I was just absolutely in awe and inspired by these one-of-a-kind couture level looks that fans would create and walk the halls of San Diego Comic-Con showcasing these looks and you know this wasn't cosplay these were couture

[00:01:25] level fashion looks and so I was like you know what a shame that you know the fans don't have an actual runway to showcase these couture designs on and so it became my dream to create a fashion

[00:01:40] show straight out of New York Fashion Week for fans to showcase their couture level designs on and you know I wanted to stay true to the foundation of Comic-Con which is education

[00:01:55] and so I wanted to create a competition style show where we pick you know winners but also anyone who participates in our show can learn and have real professional opportunities given to

[00:02:09] them because of our show and so it's it's wildly exceeded my expectations over the years how fans have you know literally been given professional opportunities with her universe and hot topic and they've also gotten jobs with studios like Disney because of our show it's just something

[00:02:29] I'm very very proud of and very grateful that the legacy continues. I'm sure I could speak for the fans when I say we're also very excited to see where you go with this and all the opportunities

[00:02:40] that you've brought. As you look back on your journey with the show what are some things that stand out for you? I think the things that stand out for me with the her universe fashion show

[00:02:48] continuing with what I just shared is the fact that our show has truly changed lives and I don't say that lightly you know our show is open to everyone whether you're an up-and-coming or professional designer or whether you're just a fan who does fashion design as a hobby

[00:03:08] you know the runway is open to everyone and you know our show has literally changed so many lives with the designers who have participated you know several designers who are doing fashion design as a hobby have gone on to change their careers and become professional fashion

[00:03:27] designers some of them are working on shows that are on Disney plus some are now working for you know Disney merchandise or you know universal and they're actually doing it professionally you know several designers put the her universe fashion show on their resume

[00:03:47] and it means something it matters it gives a level of credibility that helps them get jobs professionally in the industry so to see that our show has built up a reputation where it's actually you know changing lives for these designers is is incredibly humbling

[00:04:07] and again it's all I ever wanted you know I just wanted to create opportunity and you know our show continues to do that and it's something I'm extremely proud of. That's wonderful

[00:04:20] along those lines kind of you've managed to turn fandom and the things people love into a career not just for yourself but for these designers and these artists what would you say to aspiring

[00:04:33] designers to inspire them to get into pursuing geek fashion? You know I you know one of the things that we're celebrating this year with our show is 100 years of Disney you know that's

[00:04:49] that is the theme of our show this year the entire show is going to be Disney. It's a personal dream come true of mine because I grew up in Orlando Florida my dad was a Disney cast member Disney is

[00:05:02] literally a part of me it's it's my fandom it's it's a part of literally I like to say my DNA and the fabric of my entire being and the inspiration of Disney the fact that the impossible

[00:05:16] can become possible that a dream is a wish your heart makes and the dreams that you wish can and do come true is the theme and the message not only of this year's show but of our show in general

[00:05:31] I hope that anyone that is a part of our show or literally that just comes to our show or watches our show online I hope that they understand and believe that it starts with a dream and

[00:05:50] that you can do it and that it's just it's possible one step at a time and and that's that's what we've seen unfold in our show year after year that these designers and several of

[00:06:05] them several of them didn't know how to sew there's one designer that won our show and she taught herself to sew from YouTube she literally didn't know how to sew at all and she taught herself to sew because

[00:06:20] of YouTube and not only did she win our show but she went on to get her masters in in fashion design and now she does it professionally so anything's possible you just have to believe

[00:06:34] and you just take things one step at a time and and truly the dreams that you wish can and do come true an amazing sentiment for so many aspects of life and you just mentioned earlier that the theme

[00:06:46] is 100 years of Disney which is amazing in and of itself 100 years each year you have very thoughtful themes how do you decide on the themes for each year and can you tell us a little more about

[00:06:57] this year's theme the themes usually come organically in previous years you know the themes are often inspired by the designers they're inspired by you know something that might be going on in my life

[00:07:14] at the moment and something that I want to share or it's inspired by the partners that we're working with obviously the theme this year is inspired by us working with Disney and and celebrating this incredible milestone and anniversary of 100 years of the Disney Company but within that

[00:07:33] celebration we're going to be celebrating so many different themes you know most importantly themes of dreams and friendship and family and joy and believing in the impossible so many of these themes and inspirations that that we celebrate and watch within the Disney movies

[00:07:59] and and shows and stories that that that we love are going to be highlighted on the stage so I can assure you that the night will be extremely inspiring and I feel like everyone that that

[00:08:13] leaves our show or watches our show this year is going to walk away with the dream and and and and the inspiration to make that dream happen in fact it's one of my personal wishes is that every

[00:08:26] single person that watches or touches our show this year will make a wish have a dream and believe that their dreams can and do come true it's lovely I want to ask you something that we

[00:08:41] here at template geek think is really special with her universe at your fashion show the contestants have walked the stage while the judges are voting for their winners and you give the audience a

[00:08:50] chance to do that last year the audience turnout was massive people looked really incredibly proud to be there how did that tradition come to pass and how did it become such a big thing

[00:09:00] to incorporate the fans into your show oh my gosh that was something that was so important to me from day one you know Comic Con is about the fans and I you know the fans

[00:09:14] have always been an important uh part of our fashion show and something that I've I've protected and and held dearly not only the fact that the fans get to help choose one of the winners but also

[00:09:27] so the fans you know get the chance to walk the runway in the show as well so um the fans are an important part of the show and that will continue with this year's show

[00:09:39] Comic Con at its core has a foundation of education and so that is at the foundation of our show as well starting with the designers it's important to me that the designers learn from our show all the designers competing to have the opportunity to learn about fashion design

[00:09:59] and also um about the fashion industry and then the prize is that you know two winners get the chance to design her universe collection they will learn every step of the process from the

[00:10:12] design process all the way to the collection being sold to fans it's it's a year process so um they will be involved every step of the way and it's also a professional opportunity where they are they are paid for their collection so it's a true professional opportunity from

[00:10:32] start to finish and it also stays true to the foundation of Comic Con but the fans as well they get a peek behind the curtain they get a part to play in the process and they will learn

[00:10:45] throughout the evening and one thing in particular that I'm especially proud of our show is it's free and it's available and fun for the whole family so we have a lot of young fans too and if I

[00:10:57] can help inspire the next generation of fashion designers then that is a personal dream of mine as well so I'm very excited that we might just plant the seed for some young fans in the audience

[00:11:12] to say you know what I want to do that one day and if they're doing it I can do it too and that that might be their dream that they make you know at this year's show

[00:11:21] it's lovely what are some of the things that you are most excited to see about at this show this year I'm excited to see the reaction from the fans so you know as I mentioned it's 100 years of Disney

[00:11:36] but it's a love letter to Disney but also the fans this is going to be our biggest and best show yet and I know that might sound like a line that everyone says but this is truly going

[00:11:47] to be our biggest and best show yet because we are not only is our show free but we're giving away free swag and free prizes so there's going to be prizes given away throughout our entire show

[00:12:01] all you have to do is show up so you have to you know show up show up early get your wristband to guarantee you a seat at the fashion show because it's gonna fill up it's gonna be

[00:12:12] standing room only but we are giving away so many free prizes in celebration of 100 years of Disney so yeah trust me it's going to be talked about is one of the top events at San Diego Comic Con

[00:12:25] you're not gonna want to miss it sounds very exciting I wish I was going to be there for it it's going to be a lot of fun what's your message to fans attending the event and what do you

[00:12:36] want them to know you know I hate to sound like a broken record but it's hard not to just keep saying this because this truly is what's in my heart I was raised Disney you know my dad was a Disney cast

[00:12:52] member and my mom was an elementary school teacher and I feel very fortunate growing up in Orlando Florida that I had the chance to go to the parks to the Disney parks all the time

[00:13:05] I was practically raised on main street USA and my mom being a teacher my mom used you know the Disney parks especially and the Disney stories as a form of education for us

[00:13:20] and she was always teaching us all the lessons you know that that you learn from our favorite Disney stories and characters she was using those as inspiration and then she was using the

[00:13:32] tangible opportunities that were available to us at the Disney parks as I said as our classroom as well and so I was raised to believe in the power of our dreams but that the dreams that I wished

[00:13:46] would not just fall in my lap just like Tiana's dad teaches her and you know the princess and the frog these dreams were not just gonna you know happen that they would only happen through

[00:13:59] hard work and my parents taught me the same lesson that the dreams that I wish could come true and the dreams that you wish do come true but through hard work you have to dream it

[00:14:13] and you have to do it and so it's my hope through our show this year that we can highlight these dreams coming true but also show that the designers made them happen themselves

[00:14:31] that the designers not only dreamed it but that they that they're doing it and and sometimes all it takes is that tangible opportunity to see it happen in person to see someone else's dream

[00:14:46] come true to see someone dreaming it and doing it to inspire you that if they can do it I can do it too and so that's my hope that that's my wish that everyone that watches our show attends our show

[00:15:04] you know sees our show online that the designers participating in our show that everyone has a wish has a dream and that they walk away with the belief that their dream can come true

[00:15:18] beautiful Ashley thank you so much for taking the time today to talk to me and to let us know about your fashion show and everything coming up I really appreciate it oh Jenna thank you so much

[00:15:29] for your time today and your support it means the world to me and it's so nice to meet you it's very clear that Ahsoka lives than you thank you for shining your light and and carrying on Ahsoka's legacy as well thank you so much