Coruscant Look Interviews Eden Arborlane

Interview with Eden Arborlane
By
Emeraux Da Cona

Coruscant Look sits down with Eden Arborlane, celebrating 500 years of the House of Arborlane, her new partnership with Chandrilla Starlines, and getting a sneak peek at the new High Republic Collection.

CL: Thanks for meeting with us today.

Eden: Glad you’re here.

CL: Outside your office, right now, is a Genosian hive of activity. Is House of Arborlane always this busy?

Eden: We’re always busy, but you’re catching us at a peak time. As you know, Coruscant Fashion Week is two weeks away, and we’re putting the finishing touches on our High Republic collection.

CL: I’m dying to see it. Why did you decide to use the High Republic as your inspiration?

Eden: The High Republic is a romanticized period of our history, and there is something for everyone in the High Republic. Jedi Knights explored the boundaries of the Republic, Chancellor Lina Soh daringly forayed into rich and undiscovered art and culture, and the new innovations of Hyper Space changed our galaxy. Mention the High Republic to anyone, even people whose political allegiances are with the First Order, and that person imagines their own ideal world. It’s fertile ground for a fashion movement. I’m surprised no one has designed with the High Republic in mind before.

CL: Agreed. I notice that the color palette is heavy with metallics, and the materials are ethereal. Would you say your designs are historically accurate?

Eden: Absolutely not. I’m designing dreams, not recreating history.

CL: One of the controversial parts of the collection is the weapon design.

Eden: There is a small segment of the collection influenced by the High Republic Jedi Order. Now, the colorful palette is the real color palette of the time. High Republic Jedis loved all the colors, unlike the final incarnation of the Jedi Order, which was almost monastic in its color choices.

CL: Monastic?

Eden: I joke that one of the reasons Jedis turned to the Dark Side was because they were bored with the color scheme. Wouldn’t you choose black and red over, what, mud and mustard yellow?

CL: You make a great point.

Eden: Back to the weapons. If someone wants to feel like a member of the High Republic, they need an elaborate weapon at their side, a filigreed, stylish hilt to match their amazingly colorful outfit. Now, having an actual light saber would be impractical, impossible, and dangerous. Think of these hilts as bags, theater glasses, jewelry. We have some hilts that are all these things.

CL: Are there other outfits beside neo-Jedi outfits?

Eden: Oh yes. The robes are more elaborate, with many layers, hoods and cowls are popular, and the materials are gain colorful. You’ll see how everything looks during Fashion Week.

CL: We’re looking forward to it. Can I talk a little bit about the history of the House of Arborlane?

Eden: As you know, Emeraux, we’ve been around for 500 years. In spite of what some of my employees think, I haven’t been around for 500 years.

CL: But the joke, of course, is that there was a daughter in the original Arborlane family who was named Eden.

Eden: My namesake. She never involved herself with the fashion business. She actually became one of those High Republic Jedis, which I have to admit captured my imagination as well.

CL: Any idea what happened to her?

Eden: That Eden Arborlane was posted at Oshiro, and I think she lived out her days in the temple there as an archivist. Not a very exciting life. But the House of Arborlane really took off about 250 years ago.

CL: Under the management of Hugo Arborlane?

Eden: Who had a head for business as well as an ability to design.

CL: One of the interesting parts of your history was House of Arborlane’s designing of uniforms for the Imperial Forces.

Eden: Right. Those designs made our reputation. We had always designed for socialites and senators, people who could afford it. This was our first foray into designing for the masses, if you will.

CL: Do you ever have regrets for your role in clothing the Empire?

Eden: I would have more regrets if we weaponized the Empire. And we have poured a great deal of money into Republic relief efforts, which has helped reform our image. We don’t deny that designing for the Empire is a part of our past. Strangely enough, one of our most popular men’s wear lines is based on the basic designs of those Imperial uniforms.

CL: You mentioned that Imperial uniforms were your first designs that weren’t haute couture. But now your emphasis is high fashion, correct?

Eden: I believe that everyone deserves fashion. We do design high end, one-of-a-kind garments. That’s not all we do. We have ready to wear clothes in finer stores. This year, we’re doing something special. Can I talk about my upcoming trip on Chandrilla Starlines?

CL: Absolutely.

Eden: Chandrilla and the House of Arborlane are teaming up for the 275th anniversary of the Halcyon, and our 500th anniversary. I am going on board the Halcyon to recruit designers from the Outer Rim Regalia. I’ll be modeling some of the Chandrilla jewelry collection on board, and I’ll be handing out Arborlane vouchers to the crew and passengers. We’ll be designing free looks for these folks as a promotion for our anniversary. All of those looks will be exclusive.

CL: Any chance I can get one of those vouchers?

Eden: If you’re on the Halcyon we can make it happen. What we want to do at House of Arborlane, always, is help people be their best selves. What you wear outside tells the world who you see yourself as inside.

CL: Will we get to see any of these exclusive designs?

Eden: There will be a 500th anniversary show at the end of the year, yes.

CL: Thanks for your time today, Eden.

Eden: Thank you for yours.

***

Eden Arborlane will be on the July 30th-August 1st sailing of Chandrilla Starlines Halcyon Starcruiser.

Prophecy

Eden bolted up, shaken.

The vision that haunted her dreams was more urgent tonight, sharper, an icicle driven into her head. She threw back the duvet of her bed, shrugged on a robe, and moved into the kitchen, still partly lost in the vision. The stone floor was chilly under her bare feet. She poured herself a stiff drink to dull the lingering pain, and more importantly, her lingering sense of…what? Fear? Hope? Mourning?

One thing was certain. Her life was going to radically change. While Force visions were hard to interpret, two things were crystal clear. Holding her drink, the sash of her untied robe trailing behind her, she padded her way across the kitchen to the plush carpet of her living space, and into her home studio. Two things.

“Ms. Arborlane? Do you require assistance?” The voice came from the air of the room, a pleasant gentlemanly modulation. T1-MG9N. Her virtual assistant.

“No, T1M.” Sipping at the drink and feeling the burn at the back of her throat focused her a little. “On second thoughts, pull up that brochure from Chandrilla Starlines.”

“Yes, Ms. Arborlane.”

Eden’s screen lit up, the bright colors from her avant garde collection flashing in front of her. She rifled virtual pages to the side. There it was. The invitation.

The first thing. The man on the pleasure ship whose life was going to upend itself. He wouldn’t understand the moment until it came to him, and the vision was clear that she needed to be on hand to smooth his way. Right now he didn’t understand the role he would play, the impact he would make in regard to keeping the galaxy free. She smiled briefly at the thought of his metamorphosis. He’d hate the idea, see it as a betrayal of everything he was. Eden was not above enjoying watching him squirm. There might be some karma in the Force. In the end, it was a decision upon which the future of the galaxy hinged for years.

She studied the knickknacks on the shelf below the screen. Pens, datapad, crayons, fabric swatches. Ah. There it was. The compass. The second thing.

Not only would the next people need the compass, but they would also need the map. She’d have to go back to Oshira and find the map. Then she would need to marshal them to the new reality, to something they’d been hoping for a long time. They were…what were they called? The Saja. Perhaps passing on the map and the compass to them might be more important than steering the man. Perhaps.

The man. The map. The compass. She glanced back at the invitation. There it was. The invitation to recruit talent to the House of Arborlane on the Chandrilla Lines Halcyon at the Outer Rim Regalia. Perfect. That would put her where she needed to be, give her a reason to be there. The invitation would cover her tracks, and who she was would remain secret until such time as it suited her purpose.

Tomorrow she’d contact Reynard. He’d have her back once she confessed fully about the prophecy. “T1M?”

“Yes, Ms. Arborlane?”

“Tell the Chandrilla people I will come. And set up an interview with Coruscant Fashion Weekly.”

Master Huli Jing

As one of the Jedi masters of the High Republic Era, Huli Jing was known for being in tune with the force at a level few ever achieve. He encouraged his students to meditate with the goal of becoming one with the force. Some of his famous quotes reflect his beliefs.

“The force is a mighty river. It does not flow through us, we flow through it.”

“Most Jedi and Sith can detect disturbances in the force. Do not be one.”

He was also know for rarely using his lightsaber in combat. Instead, he would rely primarily on his martial art skills, complimented by the force. He admonished his pupils not to become too dependent on their lightsabers. “Some will tell you that your lightsaber is your life. If so, what do you become if you are deprived of it? It is a useful tool, nothing more.” It is said that many of his pupils did not even know what color his saber was. It was believed to have been teal in color. Master Huli Jing also professed a lack of interest in worldly affairs. He asserted that the Jedi should refrain from interfering in the day to day affairs of the Republic and should commit themselves to meditation and study.

After Master Huli Jing disappeared, a rumor started by his Padawan Rena Lisek suggested that Huli Jing had been Alopex the Fox. This historian finds that connection unlikely, given the temperament of the Jedi master.

Jedi Heresy

Jedi Seeker Mordaunt Kreel was an unconventional thinker. In his capacity as a Seeker, he aided those on different planets, and fought the Dark Side wherever he found it. His constant encounter with the Dark Side made Master Kreel reflect upon the unnatural, fractured nature of the Force.

During quiet moments of space travel, Master Kreel wrote a treatise called The Force in Unity, which posited that those who were Force wielders would be healthier if they stopped repressing their feelings and releasing their attachments to family and friends. One of his most important ideas was that Jedis who repress themselves are the cause of the Dark Side, and if Jedis supported the whole range of emotions, the Dark Side of the Force would no longer exist.

Most Jedi regarded Master Kreel’s pamphlet at best as naive, but some more fundamental Jedi saw the tract as blasphemous, which is why the tract soon became called Jedi Heresy. Master Kreel was censured by the Council for positing this opinion, but since he was scheduled to return to his wandering ways, the Council thought the matter closed.

There remained the matter of what to do with Master Kreel’s Padawan. As is the case with Padawans, Eden Arborlane embraced her master’s philosophy and became one of its biggest proponents. The Council felt that since she was young, she could be reformed. She was promoted to a full Jedi, but like her master, it was felt that she should be banished from the temple on Coruscant, and she was assigned to archive a newly discovered Jedi Temple on the isolated planet of Oshira.

Shortly before Eden left, Master Kreel was killed in a hyperspace accident. Eden always believed the Jedi Council arranged the accident because of Master Kreel’s beliefs, and going forward, Jedi Heresy was removed from the temple library.

Confidential First Order Security Bureau

Eyes Only Classified
Subject: World Between World Operatives
From Lieutenant Weel

Force sensitives have accessed a World Between Worlds Hub and are likely using it for time travel.

It was believed by the Galactic Empire that the destruction of the World Between Worlds on Lothal closed access to the knowledge of the Jedi ancients. Since the intensive study of the temple on Lothal, the First Order Science Division has continued to seek another hub. Traces of time travel energy have been found at the site of recent artifact thefts, and the re-emergence of High Republic figures such as Alopex the Fox and the Gray Jedi Winterbourne Wren, suggest the existence of another hub.

The First Order Security Bureau will continue to update Supreme Leader Snokes on future developments in this case.

Chandrilla Starlines Alert: Return of Alopex

Coruscant authorities report the return of the masked vigilante Alopex, and Chandrilla Starlines advises crew members to be on the lookout for Alopex the Fox on the Halcyon’s anniversary sailing on July 30-August 1.

“We know for certain this Alopex cannot be the original,” said Tan Divo, retired Coruscant Security Force. “The original Alopex emerged on Coruscant during the period of the High Republic and was active for several years before an abrupt cessation of activities. No one knows why Alopex disappeared. He probably got what he deserved. Apparently, the mantle of Alopex has recaptured the imagination of some foolish individual, and galactic citizens should remember that laws should be enforced only by local law enforcement.”

If any crew members see Alopex, they should report the sighting to Captain Keeven immediately.