Geek fashion is on the rise—from an uptick in online options to IRL runway showcases. Last year Preen and Rodarte amazed crowds with Star Wars couture fashions while Comic-Con fans adored the first Her Universe Fashion Show. In February even the colorful Looney Tunes characters made waves at Milan Fashion Week.
This month, however, geek fashion takes the lead during the first-ever Geek Fashion Week.
Geek Fashion Week will take place from March 23-29 and includes a variety of digital and in-person events. Dina Kampmeyer, founder and creative director of Geek Fashion Week, was inspired to create it after seeing the reactions she received to her own geek fashion.
“It started small, with a simple pair of Star Trek insignia earrings. Every single time I wore them out, I would get excited comments from my fellow Trek fans and I would form instant connections with people from all walks of life in all sorts of locations,” she tells the Daily Dot. “As my geek wardrobe started to expand, the more comments I started getting. It’s rare that a day goes by when I don’t get a compliment from someone on a piece of geekery that I’m wearing. Fashion has such an immediate power to connect fans and it really inspired me to further explore geek fashion in a deeper way.”
Kampmeyer hopes that the week will send a message that fashionable geeks exist and may love current options, but want more. She herself has been inspired by what is being sold now and what is not.
“While we’re seeing so many more products available, the target audience for so many of these products is juniors or casual wear. If you’re looking for something work-appropriate as an adult woman or you’re a man interested in fashion beyond T-shirts, there is still so much lacking in the area of geek fashion,” Kampmeyer says. “I want to give these underrepresented groups some tools they can use to personalize what fashion is currently available and also shine a spotlight on what products we’d like to see in the future. I hope we can start some meaningful discussions about what geek fashion means beyond what’s currently available and hopefully have an effect on what we’ll be seeing in the future.”
With a committee of 10 others, Kampmeyer has organized an entire week where geeks can come together to celebrate their style. In Los Angeles, people will be able to attend a happy hour, browse vendors, receive styling advice, watch a geek fashion show, and more. Original content on the topic including interviews with designers and retailers will be shared on the website. Geek Fashion Week will also hold two online contests: the Super Style Online Design Contest and the Style Your Universe Creative Styling Contest.
The Style Your Universe contest is sponsored by geek girl fashion retailer Her Universe, one of a number of sponsors for the week.
“In the early days of geek fashion, I would buy anything that was coming out. The appearance of Her Universe was a real game-changer and they have inspired so many of their fans and other retailers to start catering to geek women. Geek Fashion Week is all about supporting companies that are already giving us incredible products and our sponsors are all companies that I personally believe in and have already done so much for our community,” Kampmeyer said.
Her Universe will be sponsoring a prize for the styling contest. ThinkGeek has donated prizes for the Saturday event’s silent auction while Espionage Cosmetics has donated nail wraps that will be demonstrated at a booth during the Sunday event
To Kampmeyer, geek fashion can help inspire confidence in geeks by making them feel good about how they look while expressing their interests.
“We geeks deserve more choices and as the power of the female geek has increased, so should our fashion choices. I love feeling feminine and want to wear clothing that fits my body type, age, and geeky interests. Everyone is different and we need more diversity in our fashion choices accordingly. We want a broader choice of cuts, styles, and sizes covering a wider-variety of fandoms,” she explained. “This is a complex issue and one with the capability of becoming a huge industry. Geek Fashion Week was created to start a discussion about where we are, what geek fashion can do for us as a community, and where we’re going.”
Photo by Michael Pao