Mollo was surprised by the success of '' Star Wars '' , and in 1978 he won an Academy Award for Costume Design . In his acceptance speech at the Oscars ceremony , he said that the '' Star Wars '' costumes were " really not so much costumes as a bit of plumbing and general automobile engineering . " Mollo went on to work as advisor on more conventional military films such as '' Zulu Dawn '' . He also designed costumes for the crew of the '' Nostromo '' spacecraft in Ridley Scott 's '' Alien '' ( 1979 ) , and he returned to the '' Star Wars '' universe to work with Irvin Kershner on the 1980 sequel , '' The Empire Strikes Back '' . His work on Richard Attenborough 's '' Gandhi '' ( 1983 ) involved designing historically accurate British military uniforms as well as Ben Kingsley 's loincloth for the title role , and for this production he won his second Oscar , jointly with Bhanu Athaiya . Mollo 's other credits include '' Greystoke : The Legend of Tarzan , Lord of the Apes '' ( 1984 ) , Attenborough 's '' Cry Freedom '' ( 1987 ) , and '' Chaplin '' ( 1992 )
Oscars ceremony
50th Academy Awards
John Mollo