Just Breathe

John did.

John had a serious problem … it was his very first movie as a costume designer and he wasn’t entirely sure what to do … he had a really small budget, a handful of sketches and had to create hundreds of different costumes … now maybe if he was a long-time costume designer he’d be okay … Unfortunately, he wasn’t; to make a living John did concrete construction …

The one thing John did have going for him was his hobby … he loved military history and in particular drawing military costumes in great detail … he’d even once consulted on a previous movie called Charge of the Light Brigade … but that was a long, long time ago … now this forceful new director had hired him based on that experience to design the costumes for this movie … a movie John thought was kind of odd and would mostly like would never be shown. Well John created hundreds of costumes that he described as a kind of a blend of military uniforms, plumbing and automobile engineering … and they and the movie turned out to be a hit.

Today, the original costumes John Mollo developed for that movie are instantly recognizable worldwide … and won him, on his very first movie, an Oscar for costume design … a movie he thought might never be shown Star Wars.

The Costumes of Star Wars are a great idea because when you leverage what you know and try something new … the force might just be you!