Michael Costello (born January 20, 1983) is an American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

and

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

personality. He appeared on the eighth season of '' Project Runway'' and the first season of '' Project Runway All Stars''.

Early life

Michael Costello was born on January 20, 1983, in

Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

. Costello's father is Italian- Hungarian and his mother is Greek Romani and Russian. At the age of 15, he moved to

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

Career

Costello started designing clothes at the age of two by drawing dresses on his bedroom walls. At the age of 15, he opened his first store at 286 North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. It was at his first store in Palm Springs where Costello started making custom pieces for celebrities including Céline Dion,

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

, Toni Braxton,

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

Suzanne Somers Suzanne Marie Somers (née Mahoney; born October 16, 1946) is an American actress, author, singer, businesswoman, and health spokesperson. She appeared in the television role of Chrissy Snow on ''Three's Company'' and as Carol Foster Lambert on ...

, Faye Dunaway, Florence Henderson, and more. Costello made headlines for designing a matching hat and dress for rapper

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

for Paris Fashion Week.

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and is the founder and owner of ...

wore one of his dresses for her birthday magazine cover and Costello has partied with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

. He collaborated with

Essie Essie is a given name and nickname/hypocorism usually used as a feminine name. As a standalone name, ''Essie'' can be found in several languages, including Romance, Germanic, and Persian ones. In each case, the name means "star." As a nickname, ...

nail polish and designed his own lipstick and eyeshadow shades for

Inglot Cosmetics Inglot Cosmetics is a Polish cosmetics company headquartered in Przemyśl, south-eastern Poland, specializing in the manufacturing of make-up products. It is considered among the most successful makeup companies in the world which sells its produ ...

''Project Runway''

In 2010, Costello appeared on the 8th season of '' Project Runway''. Costello placed 4th place, and became best friends with fellow contestant Mondo Guerra. In 2012, Costello competed as part of '' Project Runway All Stars'' and finished as the 2nd runner up.

Grammys

On January 26, 2014, Costello garnered nationwide attention by dressing

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

in a white lace dress for the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...

. Costello credits that moment as the turning-point of his career. Since then, Costello has continuously dressed her for On the Run Tour,

The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer Beyoncé. Announced in February 2013 with initial dates in Europe and North America, the tour contained seven legs and 132 shows. It began in Belgrade, Serbia on April ...

, the Grammy-sponsored

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

tribute, the Wearable Art Gala at the California African American Museum, and more. On February 15, 2016, Costello dressed Meghan Trainor at the

Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. Costello's designs for Beyoncé, Meghan Trainor,

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons released their debut a ...

, Toni Braxton,

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

, Maren Morris, and more are on display at the

Grammy Museum at L.A. Live The Grammy Museum is an interactive, educational museum devoted to the history and winners of the Grammy Awards. The Museum has interactive touch-screens, videos, recording booths, and a collection of historical music artifacts including costum ...

. Costello offered to dress Bebe Rexha for the Grammy's after designers called her "too big".

Television

In 2016, Costello collaborated with award-winning costume designer Lou Eyrich to design gowns for

for the TV series American Horror Story, leading up to the team's

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

win for Outstanding Costumes For a Contemporary Series, Limited Series or Movie. On July 12, 2016, Costello appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' and won a nationwide fashion challenge. The following day, he worked with Kim Kardashian in creating a red carpet dress for the ESPY Awards. The styling session was filmed for

E! Entertainment E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUnive ...

Television's ''

Keeping Up With the Kardashians ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian family, Kardashian–Jenner Stepfamily, blended family, airing b ...

''. Costello has appeared as a fashion guest for television shows like ''Wendy'', '' Steve Harvey Show'', ''

Good Day LA ''Good Day L.A.'' is an American morning television news and entertainment program airing on KTTV (channel 11), a Fox owned-and-operated television station in Los Angeles, California, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corpor ...

'', '' Good Day NY'', and more.

Achievements

On March 18, 2017, Costello received a star on the

Palm Springs Walk of Stars The Palm Springs Walk of Stars is a walk of fame in downtown Palm Springs, California, where "Golden Palm Stars", honoring various people who have lived in the greater Palm Springs area, are embedded in the sidewalk pavement. The walk includes po ...

. The presentation was held by Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon, who also gave Costello the key to the City of Palm Springs and declared March 18 as the "Michael Costello Day".

Personal life

Costello has two children Giovanni and Coco from an arranged marriage that ended in 2006. He is openly gay.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Michael American fashion designers California people in design California people in fashion 1983 births Living people American gay artists LGBT fashion designers LGBT people from California LGBT Romani people Artists from Palm Springs, California Project Runway (American series) participants American people of Hungarian descent American people of Italian descent American people of Russian descent American people of Greek-Romani descent American Romani people