He recalled being especially inspired when he saw the 1935 film Clive of India as a child and returned home from the cinema to draw the costume of King George II.

He was engaged as advisor for the movies Charge of the Light Brigade (1966), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) and on Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), ensuring the historical accuracy of the military uniforms worn by actors.

The aim was to make Lucas's fantasy universe appear authentic – Mollo considered that his total ignorance of science fiction was advantageous in achieving this.

McQuarrie's image of Darth Vader had developed from Samurai armour,[8] and Mollo built up a costume using a combination of clerical robes, a motorcycle suit, a German military helmet and a gas mask from Bermans and Nathans costumiers in Camden Town.

One of Mollo's biggest challenges on Star Wars was to create a plethora of exotic aliens to feature in the Mos Eisley Cantina scene.

He collaborated with make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, who designed the masks and prosthetics to match each of the costumes, along with Doug Beswick, Rick Baker and Phil Tippett.

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.