Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529398
32 WINTER 2025 we hadn't seen before. We had a specific number of them. It was an opportunity to get to work with some of our guys who have been troopers since season one [of The Mandalorian]. They all came in for fitting and we got to customize each of them. By the end of shooting, I could look at a helmet and go, "oh, that's Derek, that's Dimitri, that's Warren." We could say we knew who they were just by the detailing on their helmets as every single one had one that was specific to them. It gave them a little bit of ownership to that costume. There's no two pieces of that armor that are alike. Same with the gold leafing and the paint job. When it went to the specialty artist, Shawna said, "I want you to add another layer." It's layered with the draping of the silk that Fredrick and I did and a lot of people were involved in those fittings. Devon, Alysha helped with those, Elissa helped. There was a lot of people that helped with laying out the silk and then they went to specialty and they all got to put a layer of themselves in it. I don't think there's a single person that didn't touch that armor because there was a garrison of stormtroopers and there's no two alike. When they go to set, it's almost like a dance and that part is so fun, to dress them all. The boys come in the morning and they're under layers and you just fall into this rhythm. They know which piece to put on and you're teaming up on different people and you're laughing—it's such a joyful time. They go, they do their they're stormtroopering and when they're done, you have to reset them all over again. Stormtroopers are always going to be one of my favorite Star Wars franchise costumes to work with because they're familiar and there's a rhythm to it, but these had their own take because it was Ahsoka. MARCUS: Rotocasting [or use of a rotational casting machine that creates a thin layer of resin or other material, resulting in a hollow, lightweight casting] is another one of my specialties that got used heavily on both season three of The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. I don't think there's many rotocasters in specialty [costuming], but a lot of people will hand slosh a mold [manually "slush around" the liquid material in the mold by hand] which is really difficult and bravo to those that want to do it because molds are heavy and it's a lot of work. I built my own rotocast machine and it's a three-chambered one where I can cast three molds at once, making it possible to make multiple sets of armor in-house. Q: Ahsoka won the 2024 Television Academy Emmy for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes for the episode "Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord." What did the win mean for the team? Devon: For me, it was full circle in the fact that in 1977, my dad took me to my first movie and, of course, it was Star Wars: A New Hope. It was the only movie I could ever think of that my dad and I sat to watch the Night Troopers with Thrawn and Captain Enoch, right. PHOTO: ©2023 LUCASFILM LTD. & TM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED