Summer 2020 The Costume Designer 23 STAR WARS STAR TREK A Conversation Between Shawna Trpcic and Gersha Phillips The landscape of sci-fi would be very different were it not for Star Trek and Star Wars. What was once considered fodder for nerds has become the nucleus of the triumphant rise of geek culture. These two intellectual properties have permeated society so thoroughly that words and terms from them have entered the public lexicon, and symbols they originated are as familiar as traffic lights.

The Star Wars universe quickly became part of the collective landscape. In the decades since many people have written themselves into Joseph Campbell’s monomyth—the broad concept that myths, folk tales, and religious stories from all over the world share unifying themes. Her own hero’s journey brought costume designer Suttirat Larlarb to the project after having honed her craft on projects like American Gods and the latest Bond film, No Time to Die.