Gigi Hadid Defends Tommy Hilfiger’s Comments About Putting Her In A Poncho
“Tommy loved my curves”
Update (10/11): Last week, Tommy Hilfiger was forced to defend comments he made during an interview with Yahoo that Gigi Hadid was dressed in a poncho during his A/W15 show because she wasn’t “as thin” as the other models in the show. Tommy released a statement after the interviewed air saying that the headline had been misleading and that she was “the definition of a Tommy Girl”.
Overnight, Gigi Hadid has broken her silence on the situation, telling Access Hollywood that Tommy was always on her team. “Tommy was rooting for me and… regardless of what the stylist of that season said or what he put me in. Tommy wanted me in the show and Tommy was pushing for me and Tommy loved my curves.”
The model, who just weeks ago announced that she would be designing a second TOMMYXGIGI collection for the brand, also made it clear that she had been aware of the decision to put her in the poncho but that Tommy’s comments “were part of a wider conversation that wasn’t shown.”
She also made a pretty good point about her success over that next year. “The next season I wore a bikini on the same runway with the same stylist that previously put me in the poncho.”
Amen to that.
Original article (03/11): Tommy Hilfiger has clarified comments he made over Gigi Hadid‘s weight.
The veteran fashion designer told Yahoo on film that his casting director dressed her in a poncho for her breakthrough autumn/winter 2015 show because she wasn’t “as thin” as the other models.
“Our casting director said, ‘She doesn’t really fit because, you know, she’s not quite as tall as the other girls, she’s not quite as thin,'” he told Yahoo. “So they put a red, white and blue poncho on her. It covered a lot of her body unfortunately, but it received millions of hits so I said why don’t we ask her to design a line for us.”
Hilfiger has since released a statement about the comments, describing the model-cum-designer as “the definition of a ‘Tommy Girl'”.
“Her magnetic personality is bright, confident and always optimistic,” said Hilfiger. “I’ve known her for many years, and am extremely proud to have her as the ambassador of my brand and as a collaborator of our collections. Any statement to the contrary is completely false. The headline from the interview with Yahoo was misleading and has since been corrected.”
Hadid and Hilfiger only this week confirmed that they are working on a second collection together, to be released in February 2017.
Original article by Ella Alexander via Harper’s Bazaar UK