“Our casting director said, ‘She doesn’t really fit because she’s not quite as tall as the other girls. She’s not quite as thin,’ so they put a red, white and blue poncho on her. Covered a lot of her body, unfortunately, but it received millions of hits,” the designer revealed.
That “not quite as thin” wording set off a slew of backlash online, prompting Hilfiger to clarify his remarks, calling her “the epitome of perfection” as far as figures go.
“The casting people put Gigi in the poncho, and I was not happy,” he told Page Six. “I was saying, ‘Don’t hide her body.’ The suggestion that I thought she wasn’t thin enough upsets me to no end. Gigi is the epitome of perfection.”
“There’s no other girl like her in the fashion world -- not only because of her beauty, but because of her style,” he said. “She would not be the Tommy girl if I didn’t think she was perfection, the It Girl of today -- not just because of her face, not just because of her body, but because of who she is.”
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Tommy Hilfiger clarifies his comments about Gigi Hadid’s body
By Ned Ehrbar
/ CBS News
Tommy Hilfiger would like everyone to know that he never had a problem with Gigi Hadid’s figure.
In an interview with Yahoo! Style earlier this week, the designer explained why Hadid donned a poncho for his New York Fashion Week show in February.
“Our casting director said, ‘She doesn’t really fit because she’s not quite as tall as the other girls. She’s not quite as thin,’ so they put a red, white and blue poncho on her. Covered a lot of her body, unfortunately, but it received millions of hits,” the designer revealed.
That “not quite as thin” wording set off a slew of backlash online, prompting Hilfiger to clarify his remarks, calling her “the epitome of perfection” as far as figures go.
“The casting people put Gigi in the poncho, and I was not happy,” he told Page Six. “I was saying, ‘Don’t hide her body.’ The suggestion that I thought she wasn’t thin enough upsets me to no end. Gigi is the epitome of perfection.”
“There’s no other girl like her in the fashion world -- not only because of her beauty, but because of her style,” he said. “She would not be the Tommy girl if I didn’t think she was perfection, the It Girl of today -- not just because of her face, not just because of her body, but because of who she is.”
Ned Ehrbar is an entertainment producer for CBS News.
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