It’s A Uniform Jim, But Not As We Know It!

I know that’s a Star Trek, rather than Star Wars reference, but they all blend into one to me to be honest!

We couldn’t help commenting on the recent news story that George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, is in a longstanding court battle with prop designer Andrew Ainsworth over who owns the rights to the Stormtrooper uniforms used in the 1970s classic Star Wars films.

The stormtrooper uniform is one of the most iconic examples of corporate clothing in modern history. And we can see why the two parties were arguing – Ainsworth sold a single stormtrooper helmet for $97,000 back in 2004. There’s been another Star Wars film since then so today’s cost is likely to be even higher.

The corporate clothing uk market will be rocked by the decision that the case was thrown out of a British court, after it ruled that the Stormtrooper uniforms were “industrial props with utilitarian purpose” rather than “works of art”. Bad luck to Andy Ainsworth, that decision’s got to hurt.

Those of you who regularly follow this blog will remember our entry about the Parkex show in March, where our stand was visited by promotional staff dressed in Stormtrooper corporate clothing uniforms – we hope they cleared it with George Lucas!