Dan Madsen
Her Universe Publicist
dmadsen@araca.com
646-922-0663
Dara Meas
Hot Topic Publicist
dmeas@hottopic.com
GEEK COUTURE TO INVADE SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON WITH 2ND ANNUAL HER UNIVERSE FASHION SHOW
25 Designers Compete for the Opportunity to Design a Fashion
Collection with Her Universe for Hot Topic
NEW YORK, NY- June 25th, 2015 – The Her Universe Fashion Show, hosted by actress and Her Universe Founder Ashley Eckstein, returns to San Diego Comic-Con 2015 with an all new group of aspiring designers. This year, 25 finalists will present their original “geek couture” designs in the runway show to compete for the opportunity to design a limited edition fandom collection with Her Universe for leading specialty retailer Hot Topic. The 2nd annual Her Universe Fashion Show will take place on Thursday, July 9th at 6pm at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego. More than 2,000 fans are expected to attend this exciting runway show celebrating fangirl fashion and pop culture.
The Her Universe Fashion Show is the brainchild of actress Ashley Eckstein. The event not only aims to spotlight fangirl culture but to also support aspiring designers by providing them with a real runway to showcase their one-of-a-kind designs to the world. Two winners – one chosen by the audience and one chosen by a panel of judges, will be awarded the unique professional experience of co-designing a fashion line for Hot Topic retail stores. Guest judges joining the Her Universe 2015 Fashion Show panel include Hot Topic’s SVP of Merchandising and Marketing, Cindy Levitt; singer/songwriter, voice actress and designer, Traci Hines; Manager of Licensing and Merchandising at Sony Pictures Television, Jessica Nubel; and winners from last year’s fashion show, Amy Beth Christenson and Andrew MacLaine. This year, Andrew MacLaine will be designing the on-stage “geek couture” gowns for host Ashley Eckstein. Actress Ashley Tisdale’s company, Blondie Girl Productions, joins the Her Universe 2015 Fashion Show as a production partner. VP Production and Development of Blondie Girl Productions, Jennifer Tisdale, along with announcer Heath Hyche, will be handling backstage coverage, in addition to contributing as audience commentators. Espionage Cosmetics returns as the hair and make-up sponsors for this year’s event.
“We are so excited to return to San Diego Comic-Con with The Her Universe Fashion Show,” said Ashley Eckstein. “Geek Fashion is a trend that’s not going away and once again we can’t wait to celebrate Fangirl Fashion on the runway. You will not want to miss the stunning pieces created by this year’s designers and the audience will participate by picking one of the winners!”
The 25 talented designers competing in this year’s fashion show come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. They’ll be creating women’s fashion looks based on anything that is celebrated at Comic-Con, original or inspired by popular media. The finalists are:Lauren Andrews,
Ericka Angiuli, Kelly Cercone, Laura Desch, Daisy Evans, Jessica Gonzalez, Lindsay Hamilton, Kathryn Henzler, Sarah Henzler, Hannah Kent, Kristin Koga, Harmony Leiker, Belinda Mendoza, Jennifer Newman, Emily Ong, Laura Cristina Ortiz, Leetal Platt, Tara Reich, Adria Sanchez-Chaidez, Amy Scott, Kristi Siedow-Thompson, Sam Skyler, Jesse Thaxton, Oseas Villatoro, and Erica Williams.
“Last year’s winners Andrew and Amy Beth blew us away with the amazing Marvel collection they designed for us,” said Cindy Levitt, SVP of Merchandising and Marketing at Hot Topic. “It truly hit home with the fangirl, as well as our fashion customer and was a fantastic success! We can’t wait to do it again this year!”
Ashley Eckstein, Hot Topic and the Her Universe team encourages attendees to come dressed in their own geek-inspired fashion for a chance to be recognized and win prizes. The Her Universe Fashion Show promises to be an evening of fun fanfare with special announcements you will not want to miss!
All media inquiries including attendance and coverage of the fashion show should be directed to Her Universe publicist Dan Madsen at dmadsen@araca.com.
Her Universe and Hot Topic will also be presenting a special screening of Studio Ghibli’s beloved film Spirited Away on Thursday, July 9th at 9pm at the Horton Grand Theatre in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. Entry to the screening requires a ticket. Drawings for entry tickets at the Horton Grand Theatre will be held on Thursday, July 9th at 9am in the Autograph Area (upstairs in the Sails Pavilion) of the San Diego Convention Center
About Her Universe
Her Universe was launched in 2010 by actress and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein and The Araca Group, a leading theatrical production and brand management company. Ashley and Araca created Her Universe to address the expanding market of female sci-fi and fantasy fans. We entered our first agreement with Lucas Licensing to develop and produce a line of female-centered Star Wars apparel and accessories. The success of that line was followed up with a collection for BBC America for Doctor Who, and CBS Consumer Products for Star Trek and AMC for The Walking Dead, Nerdist Industries, Marvel and Hasbro for Transformers. You can learn more about Her Universe and purchase the current line of fangirl apparel and accessories by going to www.heruniverse.com and by following Eckstein & Her Universe on Facebook (facebook.com/HerUniverse) and Twitter (twitter.com/HerUniverse).
About Hot Topic
Hot Topic, headquartered in City of Industry, CA, was the first retailer to make alternative apparel and accessories available to individualistic teens at malls across the country. Today, Hot Topic offers music and pop culture junkies exclusive collectibles, band merchandise, licensed and fashion apparel and accessories. Founded in 1989, Hot Topic operates 663 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and an online store at hottopic.com. Find Hot Topic on Twitter (twitter.com/hottopic), Facebook (facebook.com/hottopic), YouTube (youtube.com/hottopic) and Instagram (instagram.com/hottopic).
About Blondie Girl Productions
Blondie Girl Productions is a Los Angeles based production company that develops and produces television and motion pictures with a focus on women’s entertainment and is run by sisters Ashley Tisdale and Jennifer Tisdale. Blondie Girl most recently was one of the producers behind ABC FAMILY’s breakout comedy hit “Young & Hungry” which returns to TV August 12th – but can also now be seen on Netflix & HULU. Ashley Tisdale (President and Founder of Blondie Girl) returned to television in the TBS comedy series “Clipped” which premiered June 16th. Ashley is no stranger to Comic-con as she voices the character of Candace Flynn in the Emmy Award winning and BAFTA-nominated animated series, “Phineas and Ferb” on Disney XD and Disney Channel. Blondie Girl Productions focus is to place an emphasis on female characters that defy expectations as well as creating stories that surprise and entertain its fans. Follow Blondie Girl on Twitter @blondiegirlprod and on a Facebook at facebook.com/blondiegirlproductions. You can follow Ashley Tisdale on Twitter @ashleytisdale and Jennifer Tisdale @jenkellytisdale
About San Diego Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International: San Diego is a nonprofit educational corporation dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture. For more information on this year’s San Diego Comic Con go to http://www.comic-con.org/cci
dmadsen@araca.com
646-922-0663