Tommy Hilfiger has silenced claims he was unhappy with Gigi Hadid modelling for his label.
The 65-year-old fashion designer - who founded his eponymous line in 1985 - has clarified previous comments he made about the 21-year-old supermodel stating she isn't as slim as fellow models, and has retracted the statement by describing the blonde beauty, who is the face of the brand's clothing and fragrance line, as the "epitome of perfection".
Speaking to the New York Post's Page Six Column, the creative mastermind said: "The casting people put Gigi in the poncho, and I was not happy. I was saying, 'Don't hide her body.' Even though the poncho ended up being the best-selling piece, I was very unhappy.
Simply gorgeous. Because a fall wardrobe shouldn't stop at outerwear.
A photo posted by Tommy Hilfiger (@tommyhilfiger) on Oct 30, 2016 at 5:32am PDT
"The suggestion that I thought she wasn't thin enough upsets me to no end.
"Gigi is the epitome of perfection.
"She opened and closed the show in the bikini, because she's our No.?1 model. 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."
A photo posted by Tommy Hilfiger (@tommyhilfiger) on Sep 23, 2016 at 6:34am PDT
And the fashion mogul - who signed Gigi and trusted her to design her own capsule for the company called Tommy x Gigi earlier this year - has revealed he is "proud" of the catwalk icon and having her involved with the creative process and as the brand ambassador.
He explained: "I am proud to have her as the face of my brand and proud to have her collaborate with me. There's no other girl like her in the entire fashion world -- not only because of her beauty, but because of her style. We worked with her to design a line -- designers don't usually let models design with them -- she had a style we thought was incredible."
This news comes after Tommy discussed the red poncho Gigi adorned at his February 2015 catwalk show during New York Fashion Week, which didn't "really fit" the star.
Speaking previously to Yahoo Style, Tommy said: "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'
A photo posted by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Oct 27, 2016 at 3:03pm PDT
"It covered a lot of her body unfortunately, but it received millions of hits."