From Palm Canyon to Project Runway to Fashion Week El Paseo
By Judith Salkin
If you would have cornered Michael Costello 15 years ago and asked him where he’d be today, the answer wouldn’t have been curating a yearly show at Fashion Week El Paseo made up of “Project Runway” alums and dressing Beyoncé for the Grammys.
On Thursday, March 20, Costello will lead Helen Castillo, Uli Herzner, Viktor Luna, Irina Shabayeva and Ariyaphon Southiphong (formerly Andy South on Season 8) in the PR runway show in the Big White Tent.
And before you ask, “No, no Mondo this time!” he said. “I wanted to change things around and give some of the other designers a chance. Uli’s with me this time and so is Victor because last time he was here, the audience loved him. I love what Uli does with fabric and Irina has been designing for the Kardashians, so it’s really exciting.”
The newest member of Costello’s runway crew is Helen Castillo, “She was the resident badass and she’s really fun to work with,” he said.
And there’s no jealousy. In fact, seeing what the other designers are doing can be inspirational for Costello. “I watch what they put on the runway and sometimes it gives me more ideas,” he said. “Sometimes just seeing what I make gives me ideas – I’ll look at a dress and see it another way and it becomes the daughter or sister dress. It’s kind of amazing.”
The mostly self-taught 31-year-old designer has become a phenom of the runway, where he definitely brings out the sexy in his classically designed gowns that often hug the wearer’s curves like a second skin.
His dresses can be so spectacular they seem like museum pieces. And Bey’s nearly-nude number now is in a museum.
“The Beyoncé dress is the first dress since J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez) that’s been chosen to go into the Grammy museum!” where it will be on view for until next year’s Grammys, Costello said recently from L.A. on a day when he’d gotten up at 3 a.m. for an appearance on “Good Day L.A.” “For me, I never could have thought when I started this would happen to me.”
It wasn’t until about a week before the Grammys that Costello really knew he was on the short list for Bey’s dress or that that the singer would choose one of his creations for the music industry’s biggest night of the year.
While she could have chosen something by Valentino or Elie Saab, her stylist Ty Hunter had chatted Costello at the Golden Globes about creating something special for her.
The result was the entirely handmade dress with a nude mesh overlay that gave it the illusion of being skin embossed with the winter wonderland strategically placed snowflakes. To give the bottom structure, the hemline was reinforced with horsehair wire.
And if Costello wasn’t known worldwide before, he certainly is now.
Costello, who now regularly shows his work at Fashion Week in New York and L.A., and regularly appears on TV shows in both cities, got his start as a kid growing up in Palm Desert. At 14 he designed his first couture collection with Lipstick Productions of Los Angeles, a fashion show production company earning him a fashion review and listing in Vogue Magazine’s article, “Los Angeles’ Hidden Talent” and a write up from editor in chief of Glue Magazine, Laurie Pike.
At 15 he opened his first atelier on Palm Canyon in Palm Springs where potential clients like Faye Dunaway would drop in and exclaim how wonderful it was to find real fashion on a street littered with $15 dress shops.
He was accepted by the famed Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing in L.A., but turned it down to work as an intern for Bob Mackie (Cher’s favorite designer who designed her most remembered ensembles for the Oscars and Grammys).
The shop on Palm Canyon lasted seven years and during that time he started earning himself a clientele that included Toni Braxton, Barry Manilow’s backup dancers, Traci Bingham and Paris Hilton. Over the years that list has expanded to include Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Nicole Richie and fans like Priscilla Presley, whom he met on the “Good Day L.A.” set.
In 2010, Costello beat out 22,000 potential designers for his spot “Project Runway,” where he came in fourth. He followed that up with “Project Runway Allstars” and finally, “Life After Runway,” that catapulted him in the fashion firmament.
He moved to Los Angeles in early 2012 and hasn’t stopped the whirlwind of designing and appearances. “I never knew that designers lived the same life as rock stars,” he said. “I was up at 3 (a.m.) and I’m just getting my first break (at noon). But I love my life; I get to do exactly what I always wanted to do!”
As a kid, Costello’s Greek/Italian parents weren’t too fond of the idea of their son making dresses for a living. “But that’s all changed,” he said.
“My father watches every show and reads everything that’s written about me,” he said. “My whole family was with me at the Grammy museum a couple of weeks ago and he was crying. Now he tells me all the time how proud he is of me.”
Everyone except for his son, Giovanni. “Everyone else was going crazy about the dress, but he was running around going nuts over the drums and guitars,” Costello said. “That’s what keeps me grounded; my son isn’t impressed by me at all!”
See Michael’s collection at michaelcostellocouture.com.
Purchase tickets and see the full Fashion Week El Paseo Schedule at fashionweekelpaseo.com.
“Project Runway at Fashion Week El Paseo”
Wednesday, March 19
Meet & Greet with Michael Costello and “Project Runway” designers
10 — 10:45 a.m.
You Are Invited To a “Meet and Greet” and informal Q&A with Costello, Helen Castillo, Uli Herzner, Viktor Luna, Irina Shabayeva and Ariyaphon Southiphong. Special guest for the event is “Project Runway All Stars” producer, Rob Bagshaw, Open to the public, free.
The Superstars of Project Runway
7 p.m. Cocktail Reception; 8 p.m. Fashion Show
Costello debuts his men’s and women’s collections for spring 2014, along with collections from Helen Castillo, Uli Herzner, Viktor Luna, Irina Shabayeva and Ariyaphon Southiphong.
Thursday, March 20
Michael Costello and “Project Runway” Trunk Show
10 a.m. — 2 p.m.
This exciting trunk show offers an opportunity for personal fittings and purchases with Michael Costello and other Project Runway designers.
