Westcott opens up on ‘Black Swan’ costume controversy

For me, one of the most disappointing below-the-line Oscar snubs on Tuesday morning was that of “Black Swan” in Best Costume Design — not only because Amy Westcott’s intelligent contemporary design work was thoroughly deserving of notice (more so than “The Tempest,” on which the great Sandy Powell had something of an off-day), but because of the concern that a credit controversy, over which she had no control, might have cost her votes.

If you missed the story, fashion house Rodarte worked on the film’s stage costumes but weren’t eligible for joint awards consideration due to Guild rules — and voiced their dissatisfaction with the situation in a manner that led to some accusing Westcott of taking credit for their work.

Now, in a detailed interview with the website Clothes on Film, Westcott openly expresses her own dismay at the Rodarte tangle, and explains that theirs was a more collaborative partnership than has thus far been implied.

She’s disappointed, if philosophical, about missing out on an Oscar nomination, saying that it was “expected” and adding that if folks like Ryan Gosling can be snubbed, she needn’t feel too bad herself. (Right on.) She doesn’t, however, mince her words when it comes to Rodarte:

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

She goes on to assert that the film’s striking performance wear was conceived by Rodarte (aka the Mulleavy sisters) in partnership with Darren Aronofsky and herself:

Darren and I shared all of our research/ideas, worked with Rodarte and together approved each aspect of the design for their designated costumes … The white and black swan were a collaboration between Rodarte, myself, and Darren, a fact that is completely concealed in the press. In all, there were 7 costumes in the collaboration with Rodarte, not the “40” that keeps coming up in the press. 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.

The sad thing about this fuss is that it’s distracted attention from “Black Swan”‘s highly specific and carefully thought-out offstage costumes, which should have formed the meat of her Oscar nomination. Fortunately, the interview segues into a happier discussion of the designer’s creative process and reference points, interspersed with some of her original sketches — a must-read for fans of the film. Check it out here.

[Image: Clothes on Film]