Shawna Trpcic has died. A prolific costume designer, Trpcic was most distinguished within the realm of style TV, the place she supplied the seems to be for bold space-set collection like Firefly and up to date Star Wars entries Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and The Book Of Boba Fett. A latest Emmy winner for her work on The Mandalorian, Trpcic has obtained quite a few tributes this weekend from the Star Wars neighborhood, with producer and director Jon Favreau writing in a put up for the official Star Wars website that, “Her creativity introduced this world to life.” Trpcic’s loss of life was confirmed on Friday by the Costume Designer’s Guild. She was 56.
A California native, Trpcic labored, within the early parts of her profession, within the costume division of movies like What Lies Beneath and Barry Levinson’s Toys. But her major area, even early on, was tv, together with a protracted early stint as costume designer for Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Her first main burst of consideration got here in 2002, when she was employed as assistant to costume designer Jill Ohanneson for the pilot of Joss Whedon’s area Western Firefly; when Ohanneson was unable to signal on for the total collection, she beneficial Trpcic for the job. The end result was among the most memorable costumes in 2000s-era tv, as Trpcic emphasised the present’s deliberate mixing of Western and Eastern aesthetics to create the seems to be for every of the present’s characters—together with doing design work on the enduring “Browncoats” that may assist outline the collection’ identification for many years to return.
Firefly kicked off a protracted collaboration between Trpcic and Whedon; she would finally design costumes for a number of of his TV exhibits (together with the final two seasons of Angel, and all of Dollhouse), in addition to movies The Cabin In The Woods and Much Ado About Nothing. She additionally continued to unfold out into different main sci-fi tasks, together with serving as designer on Torchwood miniseries Miracle Day, and short-lived superhero collection Powers.
A life-long Star Wars fan, Trpcic joined The Mandalorian in its second season, working to flesh out the look of its faux-Western tackle the Star Wars universe. Writing about her at this time, collection author and producer Dave Filoni stated that,
Shawna had a deep love and appreciation for Star Wars. You can see that in each piece of labor she did with us. She liked all the pieces about being part of these tales, together with connecting with followers and being part of that neighborhood. I really feel like she has all the time been part of Star Wars. Her costumes inform a narrative, offering the suggestion of a life expertise that occurred earlier than the cameras rolled. I liked collaborating with Shawna, and I’ll miss her presence.
Trpcic rapidly turned the go-to costume designer for Disney+’s Star Wars collection, having come again to work on The Book Of Boba Fett—the place she did updates and re-designs for the title character’s iconic armor—and the latest Ahsoka, constructing on her work on the character’s first live-action look in Mandalorian. She was additionally a daily on the Star Wars Celebration conventions, the place she would typically take the time to function a choose for the official cosplay contests.
Per Variety, Trpcic is survived by her two kids. A GoFundMe has been set as much as help them within the aftermath of her loss of life.
