Kylo Ren was probably the hardest character to conquer. Throughout the years there have been so many superheroes created. It is difficult to come up with a design that doesn’t, in some way, feel derivative. My team and I worked very closely with JJ trying to find a way to show Kylo’s admiration of Darth Vader; emulating without imitating. JJ also wanted the mask to have a quality that, perhaps on a billboard would be ‘wondrous’ to a child. We liked the reflective curving lines on the mask; they feel very 1970’s, the decade during which, all this began.
All of Kylo’s garments have strong textures for interest. The hood fabric has a foiled finish for sheen; because he’s in all shades of black, I was worried about losing definition in dark lighting situations. His sleeves were made of heavy canvas, which was dyed and intentionally unevenly pleated, then waxed. I love the resulting patina.
I saw Star Wars last night and I really liked it!! I’m not the hardcorest fan by any stretch but it was awesome and if anybody wants to chat about it hmu!
Rolling Stone “Star Wars Goes On Vacation” photo shoot promoting “Return Of The Jedi” in 1983. (via)