Revisiting Marilee Heyers Beautiful Leia Concept Art for Return of the Jedi

Concept art has played a huge role in the construction of the Star Wars universe, serving as inspiration and a foundation for most of the series' visual elements. Fashion illustrator Marilee Heyer was one of these talented concept artists, responsible for Leia's hairstyles and designs as seen in the third installment of the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, which celebrates its 40th anniversary today.







An early career working on children's cartoons gave her the storyboarding experience that would come in useful when looking for a job at Lucasfilm, after she adored the first two Star Wars films. As she told StarWars.com,

Heyer was signed on as a storyboard artist to assist Nilo Rodis-Jamero, the costume designer for Return of the Jedi. In her lunch breaks, she would sketch ideas for Leia's costumes, and eventually the incredible, refined style of her work led Rodis-Jamero to enlist her to create polished, intricate designs for Leia's hairstyles in the film based on the original designs by hairdresser Paul LeBlanc.



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Heyer was asked to stay on in the art department, and only left once Return of the Jedi was completed. Four of her illustrations are featured in the 1983 book, The Art of Return of the Jedi, which sadly left her uncredited in the initial publication, an error that was corrected in the 1997 reprint.



The artist was also responsible for her uncredited work on the illustrated production logo for Return of the Jedi, which was used on production stickers and crew patches for the film.



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Even though she was asked to stay on the Lucasfilm art department after her amazing contribution, she contemplated the possibility for a moment and decided to move on, as she explained:

Heyer's incredible artwork will live on through the adored film and its concept art which remains an important part of its legacy.



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