Columbia Sportswear has a brand new Star Wars jacket for you to covet
Columbia Sportswear is about to strike back with a fancy, new winter coat for Star Wars super-fans add to their holiday gift lists.
One year ago, the outdoor apparel company fired up all of Star Wars fandom with a line of winter coats inspired by Luke Skywalker's, Princess Leia's, and Han Solo's Hoth costumes from Empire Strikes Back. They were gorgeous, pricey, and difficult to obtain. (I still covet that Han Solo one.)
In other words, a perfect gift item for collectors and super-fans, just in time for the holidays. Now, Columbia is back for a second Empire Strikes Back-inspired piece of outerwear. This one is much more of a deep cut, however.
On Friday, Dec. 7, the clothing brand will open up orders for the $500 "Empire Crew Parka," a new jacket inspired by the ones worn by crewmembers on the Hoth set of Empire Strikes Back in 1979. It's a more obviously Star Wars-branded jacket than the trio featured in 2017's so-called "Columbia Echo Base" collection -- named after the fictional outpost where Rebel forces took refuge on Hoth -- but it captures a similar sense of style.
Take a look for yourself.
For comparison, scroll down for a video from Columbia Sportswear featuring clips from the 1979 Hoth set. You can see the original crew jacket in action here and note the similarities.
(Note that the original crew jackets from the Hoth set are rare and don't go up for sale too often. One sold at auction in 2017 for close to $8,000.)
A Feb. 2017 post on StarWars.com called the actual crew jacket a "grail among grails for crew collectors," thanks in large part to the fact that each piece of outerwear was custom-made for the Empire Strikes Back crew.
The crew for Empire filmed during heavy blizzard conditions. To prepare all the crew members for the harsh filming conditions, each person was issued a custom snowsuit which consisted of a blue parka with hood, matching pants, boots, two sets of socks, long underwear, mittens, a thin balaclava, a knitted balaclava/cap, and ski goggles. The entire outfit is color coordinated in matching blue.
The post goes on to note that the knitted cap and parka specifically were customized to be Star Wars-themed. Only a few dozen were ever made, and -- because they were functional outerwear more than they were movie memorabilia -- efforts to preserve them were minimal.
Columbia Sportswear's new unisex replica is a near-spitting image of the original design, right down to the patch placement. The jacket features a detachable (and adjustable) hood, a waterproof outer layer, and is thick enough to keep you warm in the midst of Hoth-like weather conditions.
This is very much a "while supplies last" kind of release, and if 2017's Echo Base collection is any indication, these jackets will sell out and become collector's items in their own right relatively quickly.
Orders for the Empire Crew Jacket open on Dec. 7 at 12:01 a.m. ET on Columbia's website. The jacket will also be available at select "Columbia-branded retail locations" in the U.S., Canada, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.
Topics Star Wars
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
