Princess Leia’s party outfit was finished with Finnish Kalevala jewelry.
Princess Leia is one of the most central characters in the Star Wars film series. 20th Century Fox Licensing/Merchandising / Everett Collection/All Over Press
The fourth day of May is known Star Wars among fans also on Star Wars day. The hugely popular film series has already seen a surprising Finnish connection in 1977, when Kalevala jewelry ended up being part of actress Carrie Fisher’s costume.
The director of the film, by George Lucas the secretary called the jewelry designer to Björn Weckström and it turns out Lucas needed some flashy silver jewelry for his upcoming movie. At that time, however, it was not yet revealed what exactly the production was about.
– At that time, George Lucas was not yet a well-known name in Finland, and Weckström didn’t know him either. But because the project seemed interesting to Weckström, he responded affirmatively to the assignment and said that the schedule was possible. Space and science fiction had been present as themes in his work before, so designing jewelry for a space adventure film was already interesting as an idea, says Kalevala’s website.
Weckström started to design jewelry, but the work was interrupted, because the shooting schedule for the scenes requiring jewelry had been advanced. For this reason, the designer ended up with the already existing jewelry from the Lapponia collection.
The Finnish jewelry made an appearance at the end of the film, when Fisher’s character Princess Leia hands over the bravery medals to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and for Han Solo (Harrison Ford).
Carrie Fisher playing Princess Leia wearing a Kalevala necklace. Lucasfilm/Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock
Finnish-designed necklaces and bracelets were combined with this outfit.
Princess Leia’s party outfit was finished with Finnish jewelry. Lucasfilm, AOP
The jewelry seen in the movies has since ended up in the collections of the Finnish Design Museum.
Finnish connections have been seen in the Star Wars film series even later, when actor Joonas Suotamo was cast in the role of Chewbacca. Also a radio and TV personality Sara Forsberg has made a language for the aliens Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the movie. It’s the same movie in which Suotamo made his debut as Chewbacca as a substitute actor Peter Mayhew in a few scenes.
Source: Kalevala