FIGHT! : Rodarte V Wescott

oooh, Looks like the first fashion fight of 2011 is underway kids, and this one could get interesting.

It all started with award nominations for best costume design. Given that the only reason half the fashion crowd went to go see Black Swan was because of the Rodarte costume design. It must have stung more then a little to see the credit for their creations go to another designer.

The reason?

Apparently the Rodarte sisters were naive about costume credits and hadn't negotiated their contract correctly.
The credit went to Amy Wescott instead. Who oversaw the overall design of the costumes. In her words - "oversee every stitch that goes before the camera." which means that Rodarte didn't do the whole thing.
But bloggers/press didn't see it that way and with the whiff of a story in the air, come award season every pen was poised to write the glowing 'Rodarte deserve Oscar nomination for best costume.' Given that they were no longer on the list......well, Westcott got the nominations instead.
She ain't happy though. In a recent interview, she had this to say :

Clothes on Film, Chris: Are you aware of the controversy surrounding yourself and fashion house Rodarte (the Mulleavy sisters) in the press; that they should be credited alongside you as costume designers?

Amy Westcott: Controversy is too complimentary a word for two people using their considerable self-publicising resources to loudly complain about their credit once they realised how good the film is.

CoF: Do you feel as though you are being vilified for something out of your hands?

AW: I was happy for Rodarte’s persistent publicity efforts at first; I’m so proud of the film and anything that brings it to an even wider audience is genuinely welcome. I tried to put aside my ego while being airbrushed from history in all of their interviews, as I’m just not that kind of person anyway. But when articles were planted that attacked me personally as if I had conspired against them I felt nothing but despair and betrayal. I don’t have a publicist working for me, needless to say, and I was asked to stay quiet –“not to engage”, to avoid any bad press towards the film. Unfortunately this seems to have proven detrimental to the perception of my work on Black Swan. I didn’t make the rules that the Guild and the Academy set and I am proud of my professionalism and commitment to my work, so to have my name dragged into such ill-informed gossip is galling and hurtful to say the least.


So, we'll have to wait and see who wins the war of the wardrobes...can't we all just get along?