Obi-Wan Kenobi Took A Cue From A Star Wars Manga In Designing Leia's Family
When "Obi-Wan Kenobi" debuted on Disney+ early last summer, the return of Ewan McGregor as a middle-aged Ben came with a lot of expectations. McGregor's performance in the prequels showing Obi-Wan's transition from Padawan to Jedi Master was universally well-received, and seeing the beloved actor return in a more grizzled, world-weary form was met with a great deal of excitement. Initially, the series was set to focus on the secret stewardship between Obi-Wan and young Luke until that idea was re-tooled after it was deemed to be too similar to "The Mandalorian."
Instead, Obi-Wan is lured off of Tatooine to rescue Leia (a plucky Vivian Lyra Blair) and return her to her home world on Alderaan. Blair emerged as an immediate standout on "Obi-Wan Kenobi" that already had plenty of similarities and connections to Carrie Fisher's classic take on the character. The spark of rebellion was clearly already there, to the point where it almost seemed like Blair was doing her best impression of Fisher in some scenes.
Creating the look of a younger Leia also required a number of visual cues that could draw a line between how the 10-year-old version of the character would stand up against the Princess Leia that's introduced in "A New Hope." In the original trilogy alone, Leia undergoes a number of huge transformations, and introducing a young Leia needed to show another part of that journey to portray how she goes from a precocious Senator's daughter into one of the key leaders of the Rebellion.
There's plenty of imagery to mine from the original trilogy, but "Obi-Wan Kenobi" drew inspiration from elsewhere in the "Star Wars" universe to help bring Leia and her royal family to life.
A small detail unearthed from a Star Wars manga
After Leia is adopted into the family of Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) at the end of "Revenge of the Sith," she's essentially raised as royalty. Her mother, Breha Organa (Simone Kessell), also happens to be Queen. Leia's look early on had to show the connection between her mother and her royal roots, while still staying true to the character. In a chat with Variety, costume designer Suttirat Larlarb spoke about the contrast of seeing the formality of Queen Breha when Leia is first introduced in "Obi-Wan Kenobi":
"The scene where the queen stops everything to retrieve her disobedient, playsuit-clad daughter while she is dressed very formally needed to express the distance Leia still has to traverse to become the icon in that white gown we eventually know. I wanted to make sure the references to the future, iconic Princess Leia we meet in 'A New Hope' were clear."
To show even more attention to detail, Larlab looked to the natural world of Alderaan for inspiration when designing the Queen's dress and the motif seen on the blue lining of her cape. She ended up going to one of the most knowledgable people at Lucasfilm for more information:
"I asked Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo if there were certain flowers associated with Alderaan, as I wanted to employ this notion that [family] symbols on royal clothing throughout history are often derived from the flora and fauna of the royal realm, and that the queens often express a connection to their homeland by wearing clothes whose textiles incorporate the use of those symbols through embellishment."
Apparently, there was one "Star Wars" manga in particular that mentioned an Alderaanian flower called the "struggling pearl blossom" that Larlab used in the design. It's a clever detail that reveals a little bit more about the culture of Alderaan before the entire planet was destroyed by the Death Star.
The fashion of Star Wars
Elaborate costumes have always been a quintessential part of "Star Wars," and recent shows like "Obi-Wan Kenobi" and "Andor" have started to introduce the more opulent side of the galaxy. Larlab also noted that the colors of Queen Breha's ivory gown are a reference to the gown that Leia is seen wearing in "A New Hope" and that the blue color of the dress honors "the established colors" of Alderaan.
Whether "Obi-Wan Kenobi" made Leia a more interesting character is up for debate now that the standalone limited series is behind us. The six-episode run of the show did give creatives like Larlab even more opportunity to explore the fashion of "Star Wars" and the history behind the clothes. That makes the galaxy feel that much more lived in and real, something that has always set George Lucas' vision apart from other sci-fi fantasies that lack this level of world building.
None of the costumes from "Obi-Wan Kenobi" will ever be as recognizable as the garbs worn in the Original Trilogy, of course. At a recent auction of film and TV memorabilia, the gown worn by Princess Leia at the Royal Award Ceremony after the battle of Yavin is reportedly still for sale after failing to reach the expected $2 million sum. The dress managed to receive a bid of $975,000, which just missed the minimum price of $1 million set by the owners. It's unlikely that Larlab will get the opportunity to continue her beautiful work on a second season of "Obi-Wan Kenobi," but we'll be watching her career with great interest.
All six episodes of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" are currently streaming on Disney+.