JOIN USIn his long career as a Hollywood costume designer, Michael Kaplan has created looks for disco legends (the Village People in Can't Stop the Music), 1980s icons (Jennifer Beals in Flashdance) and 90s cult classics (Fight Club). But he holds special regard for science fiction, like the original Blade Runner in 1982, one of his first movie credits. Recent sci-fi projects include the 2009 reboot of Star Trek and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, both directed by J J Abrams.
He returned to a galaxy far, far away this season, designing Rey's scrappy Jedi-training outfit, Kylo Ren's high-waisted pants (or is it a bandage? "They're high-waisted pants," Kaplan said), and Princess Leia's majestic capes in Star Wars: The Last Jedi ("She has two," he added).
Kaplan, who lives in Los Angeles and is a nominee for a Costume Designers Guild award, spoke to The New York Times recently about how he approaches costume design, and the unique challenges of creating costumes for otherworldly creatures. Here are some edited excerpts:
How do you dress a Jedi?
The old movies looked to Japan. The original costume designers looked at a lot of ninja clothes. They looked at westerns. And they looked at WWII and a little bit at WWI. I went to the same sources they did. I didn't want to reinvent Star Wars. I wanted to embrace it and update it.
How many costumes did you design for 'The Last Jedi'?
More than a thousand. And they're all individually made, all in different fabrics. They needed dresses and gloves and jewellery. You can't go out and buy clothes for Star Wars. We had a milliner. It was like MGM in the 30s. The creatures would come to us naked, and we would dress them.
Were the creatures anatomically correct?
No comment.
Which was your favourite 'Star Wars' costume?
Praetorian guard. We looked at 1950s muscle cars. The costumes had to be on stuntmen who were fighting very hard. They use weapons, and they need to have complete range of motion. And if these guys fall, you don't want the armour cracking. And the helmets look like they have no way of seeing, but there's actually tiny slits. They're very samurai, very Japanese, but very clean. Very Star Wars.
The Academy tends to reward period pieces for costume. Does that annoy you?
They don't love science fiction. I don't see it changing. Even the original Blade Runner, which didn't have all the characteristics of a science fiction film, was still totally disregarded. And look what it has become. I do find it a bit odd, because when you're doing a period piece, you can do research. You can look at costumes that someone else made. But with the future you're actually blazing new territory.
What was Carrie Fisher like to work with?
She commented on everything. But whenever she was talking, there was laughter. She
referred to her costume in Episode 7 as her Sunoco gas station attendant costume. For The Last Jedi, the director, Rian Johnson, wanted her to look more regal. I got a really lovely letter from him, saying, 'You made her look so beautiful in these costumes for her final film.' It meant a lot.
Are you inspired by fashion trends?
I don't look at fashion magazines unless I'm doing a contemporary movie and the actor is wearing something very trendy. The last time I was influenced by fashion for a movie was looking back to the 60s, when I was doing Star Trek, seeing Courrèges and Pierre Cardin and trying to harken back to that period when Star Trek was developed. I did the same for Star Wars.
Would you ever design a line of clothing?
I really don't have an opinion of what other people should wear. Marc Jacobs always says to me, 'I could never do what you do.' And I say to him, 'Of course you could, but I could never do what you do.'
Tell me something I don't know about 'The Last Jedi'.
The first rule of Star Wars is you don't talk about Star Wars.