Columbia’s new Star Wars collection is all about Darth Vader and we got a peek behind the curtain

TechRadar exclusively chatted with Columbia to dive into the details

Features By Jacob Krol published 19 November 2024

Just like you can count on two suns rising on Tatooine or lava flowing on Mustafar, Columbia Sportswear just dropped its annual Star Wars collaboration. And while last year was all about Luke Skywalker and his iconic orange flight suit, this time Columbia’s turning to the dark side.

The aptly-named Vader Collection is the largest yet from Columbia’s partnership with Star Wars. It impressively blends Vader’s iconic look across jackets and sweatshirts with hats, a water bottle, t-shirts, and blankets. Much like the previous annual drops, Columbia’s design team worked hand in hand with the teams at Lucas Film to ensure accuracy and hide Easter eggs throughout the collection.

You’ll find Vader’s iconic chest plate – from Episode 5 and Episode 6 – on several pieces, as well as the location of the planet Mustafar, imperial logos, and maybe most importantly, Vader spelled in Aurebesh, among other messages. While debuting now, the entire collection will go up for order on December 5, 2024, at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET, but Columbia Greater Rewards members – a free program – can shop 30 minutes before.

To unpack some of the highlights of The Vader Collection, TechRadar had the chance to chat exclusively with Becca Johnson, Director of Special Projects & Collaborations at Columbia, and someone who worked closely on creating this year’s Columbia x Star Wars collection.

“It’s always an exciting challenge to see where we could go next,” said Johnson, who recalled 2023’s Luke Skywalker collection and then said, “we knew we wanted to go opposite.” Darth Vader is just that, and Johnson shared it was really exciting to create this collection, but it also posed some challenges.

Vader is known for his iconic cape, dark layers, and classic red lightsaber. Johnson recalled, also sharing that “we were able to get access with the Lucas team to go behind the scenes to the archive to unlock all the specific details of his costume, accessories and universe that surrounds him.”

Columbia is known for its ‘Omni-Heat’ technology, which typically presents itself as a pattern of metallic gold dots inside the jacket that reflect body heat back within. It’s even been used in space, but it’s getting a new paint job for the first time. What color? Well, red, of course, is perfectly on theme with Vader’s lightsaber.

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