Sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy were brought into the production by lead actress Natalie Portman, a huge fan of their high-end label Rodarte, to help create the clothing worn by ballet dancers in the thriller.
The pair produced seven looks for Black Swan but were said to have been left fuming after Amy Westcott was credited as the official designer, making her the only crew member eligible for any costume design award nominations.
Westcott, who is up for a BAFTA Award for her work next week (06Feb11), insists she feels “despair and betrayal” by reports she has cheated the Rodarte sisters out of receiving credit.
She tells the Clothes on Film website, “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…
“I was happy for Rodarte’s persistent publicity efforts at first… 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 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.”
