Check out this interesting interview with Black Swan costume designer Amy Westcott, surrounding the controversy over Rodarte’s contribution to the film’s costumes. The interview raises the question of who should be credited (and how) when a well- known fashion designer collaborates with a lesser-known costume designer. Not to say that this is the case, but it does bring to mind Edith Head‘s Academy Award for Costume Design for the 1954 film Sabrina, despite the fact that Audrey Hepburn‘s wardrobe was in fact designed by Hubert de Givenchy.  the question of who should get the credit- the one conceptualizing the over look of the film and its atmosphere through costume design, or the one who created a few key costumes (be them iconic or not) for the leading character- is an interesting one and it is worth further exploring.

Laura Mulleavy and Natalie Portman in a fitting for the film Black Swan . Photo by Autumn de Wilde

Original sketch by costume designer Amy Westcott for the film Black Swan