Michael Kaplan | “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
When costume designer Michael Kaplan started work on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” he knew the most daunting challenge would be updating the well-known Imperial Stormtrooper suit (with its 138 parts). Its look is one of the most identifiable in the “Star Wars” universe and was something that needed to be kept at all costs. “It was important to [director J.J. Abrams] and myself to show in the redesign that over 30 years had passed since their last outing in ‘Return of the Jedi’ but to hold on to that iconic look. Immediate recognition was a mandate,” he notes.
Kaplan says he played with simplifying elements, since he believes technological advances usually appear more streamlined. So he created, among other things, a central form on the helmet’s face that appears to be floating. He says this “magical element” is added to the Troopers’ knees as well. “To ‘Star Wars’ outsiders, they might not notice the changes; to the followers and fans, a big change.”
The original white suits were vacuum-formed plastic, which were brittle and thin, so Kaplan “beefed them up” using a soft polyurethane for comfort, which, he acknowledges, were “unfortunately not air-conditioned for the Troopers working in the 120-degree Abu Dhabi desert.” They were developed via Computer-Aided Design by Pierre Bohanna at his in-studio shop in Britain.
“A few years ago, when J.J. asked me to come work with him on ‘Star Trek,’ I initially refused, believing that since I wasn’t a Trekkie, I wasn’t the right designer for the task,” says Kaplan, who enjoys the conceiving and building required in such futuristic projects as opposed to the shopping and pulling of clothes for more contemporary or period films. “J.J. was relentless and very persuasive, and in the end, I did design both ‘Trek’ movies with him. So when he asked me to do ‘Star Wars,’ terrifying as it was, I didn’t argue.”