Comic-Con: Ashley Eckstein wears LEGO dress

Ashley Eckstein turned heads Wednesday night when she unveiled her new dress inspired by her Star Wars: The Clone Wars Jedi Ahsoka Tano. It looked great, but it stood out for another reason. It was made with over 10,000 LEGO bricks.

Eckstein, the creator of fashion line Her Universe, recruited LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya and fashion designer Andrew MacLaine to make the outfit. The trio gave the background on how the 25-pound dress came to be at EW’s Con-X with EW’s Nicole Sperling.

It started with Sawaya’s Wonder Woman dress sculpture and collaborating with Eckstein on a simple premise: “We thought: Could you make wearable art?” Sawaya recalls. “We started thinking and saying, ‘Yeah, there’s got to be a way.'”

Then came on MacLaine, who won the inaugural Her Universe Fashion Show in 2014. Eckstein and Sawaya needed someone who could sew, but it had to be secret. MacLaine had no idea what he signed up for until right before he walked into Sawaya’s studio.

MacLaine crafted something akin to a black, sequined evening dress as the base of the dress, “but instead of sequins, it was LEGOs, and I sewed them on like buttons.” That process took three weeks. Sawaya took a black-and-white sketch of Ashoka Tano drawn by Star Wars Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni for the profile of the character. And 80 hours later, it was complete.

Sawaya is renowned for his LEGO sculptures, such as the seated people visible on the Con-X grounds. The artist, once a corporate lawyer, will bring his Art of the Brick exhibition to San Diego in September. At last year’s convention, Sawaya combined his craft with classic DC Comics characters and brought Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Joker to life.

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Eckstein gave some news to calm Star Wars Rebels fans: This won’t be the last sign of Ahsoka. The actress confirmed her character would be back on Rebels, echoing the news Filoni gave at last week’s Star Wars Celebration. Whether she’s alive or goes of the Obi-Wan Kenobi spectral presence remains a mystery.

Con-X is a four-day getaway in Embarcadero Marina Park North in downtown San Diego. Made for all fans, Con-X allows anyone to get a taste of Comic-Con for free with panels, Q&A, trivia, music, screenings, and more. Con-X runs Thursday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. PT.

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