Black Swan's Costume Designer (No, Not Rodarte) Speaks Out, But Why Now?

Amy Westcott (left) and Rodarte (Mulleavy sisters) (right)

Ask any fashion and non-fashion conscious person who designed the costumes for the Oscar nominated film Black Swan and they are sure to respond with Rodarte, the label behind Kate and Laura Mulleavy. The publicity surrounding Rodarte's costume designs for the film has undoubtedly overshadowed the credited costume designer, Amy Westcott.  Who is Westcott, you ask? Well, she's a pretty pissed off woman right this moment. Her recent interview with Clothes on Film reveals her disdain for the controversy surrounding Rodarte's ineligibility for an Oscar nod. Although it's now a moot point since the film didn't get a nomination for costume design, but let's face it, how could the Academy give Westcott the nomination when she didn't design the best costumes from the film?

So, why is Westcott making such a big deal after the nominations have already been announced? Could it be that she's upset that she couldn't ride on the coattail of all the Rodarte attention and earn an Oscar nod? Once articles started surfacing that Rodarte only had a back end credit and wouldn't be included if the film did get nominated, it was glaringly obvious that Westcott didn't deserve a nomination without Rodarte. I'm sure this must have influenced the Academy in some way. It would be one thing if Rodarte designed a dress or two that wasn't the main focus of the film, but their designs were so instrumental that their Black Swan costume was the focus of the promotional campaign.

Then there is the claim by Westcott that Rodarte did not design 40 costumes, which has been printed in almost every article, but instead only 7. In an interview with The Ballet Bag back in October, Westcott explains that Zack Brown (a famous ballet costume designer) designed the costumes for the corps de ballet and Rodarte added pieces to make it work with their Black and White Swan. However, in her interview with Clothes on Film she doesn't acknowledge Rodarte at all and instead says, "The core ballet was designed by Zack Brown (for American Ballet Theater), and my department and I added some feather detailing to assimilate them with the White Swan." So, what is it? Did they collaborate on the other 33 costumes or only designed 7?