WASHINGTON D.C.: American fashion designer Michael Costello has spoken out after criticising reality TV star Kylie Jenner over her 23rd birthday dress, stating that she never gives credit to fashion designers.
According to Us Weekly, the 37-year-old fashion designer Costello posted a lengthy comment on Jenner's Instagram post on August 12, calling her out for not always tagging fashion designers in her social media posts. Since then, model Lala Kent and Hollywood star Savannah Chrisley have put the designer on blast, sharing their negative experiences with him in the past.
Castello told Us Weekly, "I have no issues or beef with Kylie Jenner. I love her. The reason I commented on her post is that she is often tagging some designers but not others."
The designer stated that the makeup mogul Jenner is not alone.
He said, "A lot of celebrities are doing this. For example, Bryan Hearns makes a lot of dresses for Kylie and no one ever gives him any credit and he deserves it. Makeup artists and stylists are getting tagged but the clothing designers are not."
"In regards to me, there is no bad air. Kylie has worn my outfits about four or five times. She did not tag me in posts but her stylist has and she acknowledges me in person and says how much she appreciates my work," he added.
He further emphasised that he just want the public to see "what is happening with the designers and how we are often doing work for free for no credit."
The 'Vanderpump Rules' star and model Kent came across Costello's comment on Jenner's birthday post and called him out on her Instagram story.
She wrote, "I literally blew him up to make my custom wedding dress-he would have gotten all the 'tags & @'s' he's talking about. But I never heard back from him... why? Because I'm not 'big enough.' So cool out, Costello-you do the same s**t."
However, the fashion designer Costello spoke out a different side of the story. He told Us Weekly, "A year ago, July 15, 2019, Lala Kent was referred to me by my amazing friend Lorianne who owns 'Wife Of The Party,' she is wonderful. We set up an appointment for a bridal consultation for Lala. I said of course and we set up the fitting. Lala never came, she blew the meeting off."
He continued, "It turned out she wanted a complete wedding gown for free or for trade and we had to turn it down. Wedding dresses start at USD 9,500 and I only make eight of them a year. She wanted me to do that with no budget. It is not about not being famous enough to work with, it is that I have to make a living."
Chrisley also claimed that Costello did the "same thing" to her for an "NBC event."
Responding to all allegations, Costello said it is completely false for Lala and Savannah to say they are not big enough celebrities to work with.
"That is based off the assumption that A-list stars are not paying me, but they are. The larger celebrities I work with such as J.Lo and Mariah Carey pay me. They give me a budget and a timeline."
"I want people to know that designers and myself deserve to make a living just like anyone else does and we should not be targeted because we turned down a project. We deserve the same respect that anyone else gets for their work," he concluded.