No Capes: Fashion Luminaries Pay Tribute to The Incredibles’ Edna Mode

I’m kind of a sucker for when movies break the fourth wall and seep into the “real world.” This latest ad for the Incredibles Blu-ray does that particularly well, bringing in some of fashion’s biggest names to talk about Edna Mode, designer to the superhero stars. Way back in 2004, Edna Mode captured the audience’s hearts with her incredibly sassy, almost-bordering-on-judgy personality. As the visionary behind some of the Incredibles universe’s superheroes, she has designed suits and armor that can protect any hero, no matter their superpower or size.

Here, you’ve got Heidi Klum, Zac Posen, Nina Garcia, Kate Young, Andre Leon Talley, and more all extolling the virtues of Edna Mode’s incredible (ha) work. The one thing a few of them disagree on, though, is her vehement dislike for capes, calling her “polarizing” and “divisive,” though ultimately a visionary. Of course, I wouldn’t blame Edna for her dislike of capes. As a classic fan theory and copypasta from Tumblr (and beyond) goes:

“I know we all love Edna because she’s super fierce and determined and an awesome role model, but…do you ever think that she feels intensely guilty over having made this suit that lead to the death of this amazing young girl [Stratogale]?

[Imagine] Edna at Stratogale’s funeral, veiled from head to toe, slowly ripping pages out of her pocket sketchbook and mouthing the words ‘no capes’.

Think about how appalled Edna must have been. How traumatized. How guilty she must have felt over the death of this young girl.”

Like, damn. I can’t hold the “no capes” thing against Edna, and frankly, I don’t think anyone can (or should), either. The fan theory takes it one step further, too, bringing in the big bad (relatively speaking) from the Incredibles film: Syndrome.

“Then realize that Edna anticipated practically every threat that the Incredibles would run into from Syndrome and built help into their suits. The only logical conclusion is that he contacted her–possibly scores of times. Syndrome was a stalkery fanboy before he turned supervillain. And Edna is THE suit maker for supers, as well as Mr. Incredible. Of course Syndrome would go to her. Edna is the best, and Syndrome would want the best designer for his costume.

Think about all that. Think about the woman who was so horrified and grief-stricken by Stratogate’s death being asked by a supervillain–one who was a genuine threat to supers she cared about–to design his costume.

And then realize that, despite her horror and guilt and rage at the gruesome deaths of Stratogate and other supers, despite her vehement conviction that such deaths should never happen again…

…she gave Syndrome a cape.”

Whether you buy into this theory or not, and fourth wall-breaking aside, one thing’s clear: Edna Mode’s a character who, at least for Disney fans, has made an impact on folks’ memories, and has certainly earned her place in our hearts and our minds. We can only hope that when Incredibles 2 lands in 2018, we’ll get to see and learn a bit more about our favorite superhero-fashion designer.

(via io9)

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