If you work/live in downtown Toronto, you might have noticed that it’s World Mastercard Fashion Week in our city. You might have even accidentally walked into frame of someone getting their picture taken for their street-style, as these fashion photographers are en masse right now. Heck, when I had turned the TV on this morning, literally the first words to hear were “World Mastercard Fashion Week”. I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of Fashion Week in Toronto, mainly because there isn’t much (if any) support for plus size clothing concept design.  The one time a plus-sized-centric designer was given a show (as a last-minute thought, no less,) it was essentially laughed off the stage, and there hasn’t been any noticeable action of trying again. Despite my disregard to the event as a whole, there were two invitations that I couldn’t say no to this year.  The first was to go and see the Mercedes-Benz StartUp competition, as they had partnered up with Disney to celebrate the upcoming Star Wars:  The Force Awakens launch in December. Star Wars inspired fashion? There was no way I could decline witnessing this, with hopes of epic flare.

Have you seen the most recent Star Wars:  The Force Awakens preview? Of course you have. Here, watch it again.

This is pretty much the scene I walked into on Thursday night. Right away you could see the statue-esque models, exhibiting inspiring modern designs with the essence of Star Wars themed fashion.
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Alright, if some dude tried wearing this about town, they might trip over their own sash, but you could practically see this outfit coming right off the movie set.
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Similarly styled to the one just above, though I could actually see someone wearing this outfit to the office.

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The NARCES entry, inspired by Darth Vader’s uniform and designed by Nikki Whirthensohn, was my favourite out of the group. Love the hoodie!

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Ben Mulroney, host for Mercedes-Benz StartUp competition, is apparently quite the Star Wars fan.  Just goes to show that nerds are everywhere.

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Geeks be jelly, as Roger Christian, Academy Award® winner and set decorator, best known as the original creator of the lightsaber and R2D2 acted as a guest judge for the evening’s design competition.  As a designer, he discussed how bits of a calculator, particularly a solar strip from one, helped build the original lightsaber.

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UNTTLD, this year’s winner of the Mercedes-Benz StartUp design competition. So shiny! We could all tell this one was going to win, ’cause you couldn’t turn away from the sparkle. Truly a gorgeous dress that has its own presence about it. I would be so worried of ripping the sheer fabric of the skirt with heels!

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José Manuel St-Jacques and Simon Bélanger, designers of UNTTLD, and winners of this year’s Mercededs-Benz StartUp competition. (They received lightsabers as their prize. Oh, and $15,000. Congrats to them!)

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Bringing Star Wars Fashion To the Streets

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SO MUCH LOVE for Darth Vader flats. These are absolutely my faves. I didn’t realise I wanted these in my life until I did. Apparently I’ll need to check out Ardene for a pair.

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Really cute R2D2 heels.  I love the colours, but the floral motif feels a bit off.

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Epic Lightsaber heels. The tassels should be weird, but oddly enough I like them here.

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Truly a fun night to be had, and it even had me reconsider attending future shows if they were geek/tech related like this.  What do you think of the design styles for the shoes? Are you going to line up to pick up a pair?

Check out more of the fun by viewing #StarWarsFashion on Twitter!