John Mollo, the Oscar-winning costume designer behind Star Wars, dies age 86

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John Mollo, the Oscar-winning costume designer who famously worked on Star Wars, has died at the age of 86, as reported by The Times.

Mollo was a military history expert who acted as a historical advisor on several films, including The Charge of the Light Brigade and Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, before progressing to costume design.

After finishing work on Kubrick’s film, Mollo — who had never watched a science fiction film beforehand — met with George Lucas to discuss the director’s third feature film.

“Since I had just finished the work for Kubrick I thought I’d investigate and met George Lucas at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood,” Mollo said of the moment.

Soon after that discussion, he was hired to work on Star Wars. Using Ralph McQuarrie's sketches, Mollo designed the iconic outfits worn by Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the stormtroopers.

There was, of course, also Darth Vader’s costume: with only £900, Mollo began making McQuarrie and Lucas’s vision a reality, basing the eventual design on World War 1 trench armour and Nazi helmets.

For his work on Star Wars, Mollo was awarded the best costume design Oscar. He would once again win the prestigious Academy Award in 1983 for Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. Mollo also worked on Alien, Cry Freedom and returned to the Star Wars universe for The Empire Strikes Back.