COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR LAUNCHES STAR WARS-INSPIRED COLLECTION

Columbia Sportswear has created three limited-edition jackets inspired by iconic characters in the film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The officially licensed “Echo Base” collection will be available in limited quantities on www.columbia.com/starwars and at Columbia’s brand retail locations in the United States and select countries beginning Friday, December 8.

Inspired by the costumes worn by the film’s main characters, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker, the collection is named after the Rebel’s secret base on ice planet Hoth, Columbia’s designers worked closely with Lucasfilm and the company’s archives team to capture and incorporate the smallest of details of the original jackets worn in the classic film. The collection is constructed with Columbia’s “Tested Tough” promise and delivers the brand’s industry-leading technologies to ensure that they stand up to ice-cold-conditions. Each coat retails for $400.

In addition, Columbia has produced an extremely limited run of the dark brown Han Solo Archive Edition parkas, which will sell for $1,980. Further, Columbia has collaborated with actor Harrison Ford, who played Solo, in this endeavor to raise funds for Conservation International, a global organization dedicated to the protection of nature. Harrison hand-signed each of these brown Han Solo Archive Edition parkas, and Columbia will donate 100 percent of the proceeds from their sale to Conservation International.