Apple played a key part in the design of the Stormtroopers’ new outfits in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, according to the upcoming film’s costume designer.
Designer Michael Kaplan told Vanity Fair that, when coming up with concept art for the Stormtroopers, the movie’s design team asked themselves: “What would Apple do?” Out of this question came the new, sleeker look of the villainous army.
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Kaplan said: “JJ [Abrams] wanted them to look like stormtroopers at a glance, but also be different enough to kind of wow people and get them excited about the new design.” Abrams, The Force Awakens‘ director, is a fan of Apple’s hardware, having posted a message on the day of the launch of the Apple Watch.
The new Stormtroopers certainly have an Apple look about them, with the glossy, white exterior of their uniforms being more minimalist than the Stormtrooper costumes featured in the original trilogy, and less colorful than the Republic Army from the prequels.
There’s also an air of mystery about the new Stormtroopers similar to that which accompanies the launch of a new Apple product, with it having been confirmed that they are not fighting for the Empire this time around, but rather the First Order. The First Order were formed after the Empire’s demise, and in The Force Awakens they’ll be fighting toe-to-toe with the Resistance, in what is assumed to be the film’s equivalent of the Rebel Alliance. It’s basically Apple vs. Microsoft/Samsung/Google/HTC, then, except Tim Cook probably doesn’t own a crossguard lightsaber.
