Salad Days is back to brighten up Summer 2014 with, “Space Babe Lazer.” As with most SD collections, designer, Willar Mateo, retreats to his toy box and shares his fond childhood memories to a contemporary audience.

The designer says that he was inspired by the idea of superheroes travelling through space, and the line-up, an irresistible array of t-shirts, sweaters, shorts and jackets, does exude the kinetic energy of comic book characters. Reverb Shock Sweatshirt looks like it was cut and color blocked to the costume that one mild mannered citizen secretly would change into to fight crime. The exaggerated sleeves on a Pinch Protect Jacket recall the impossibly muscled arms of the intergalactic guardians who duke it out on one’s favorite monthly. The Flare Spark Skirt resembles an iconic shape from a female sidekick’s rah-rah look.

Salad Day still manages to keep it real though. As quirky and juvenile as the inspiration might sound, “Space Babe Lazer” has a lot of wearable and modern pieces. Willar might have looked to the spandex outfits of his childhood favorites for inspiration, but the clothes are something you can slip on anytime, even on those days when you are feeling not quite mild nor mannered.