David Tlale defies “impatient diva publicist”

A mere day before its scheduled showing at the famous fashion event this week, the House of David Tlale’s reputation was put in jeopardy when Kelly Cutrone, the owner of PR firm People’s Revolution, issued this statement to all the guests of the David Tlale show: “People’s Revolution is canceling our participation in the David Tlale show, Thursday September 5 9:30am in the Box at Lincoln Center as we have not been paid. Please note no one from production will be in attendance.”

Reporting on the incident, Women’s Wear Daily explained that Tlale didn’t deny that Cutrone hadn’t been paid in full, but stated that she was jumping the gun, saying: “She was not willing to wait. We were going to make the entire amount today.”

According to the journal, Tlale had to pay Cutrone a total of R150 000, but there seems to have been some misunderstanding between the two as to how exactly the payment would be made.

Women’s Wear Daily explained: “People’s Revolution would be paid 50% of show fees upon signing, and the remainder of the deposit 48 hours before the show. As of Wednesday, she had not been paid any of her $15 000 fee.”

The designer’s SA-based publicist moved to set the record straight, saying in the Sowetan: “This is not an issue of ‘non-payment’, but merely an egotistical, impatient diva publicist [demanding] full payment 48 hours before delivery of services.

“The DT fashion house has taken a position with all of its suppliers to settle the full amount with them once services have been rendered. All other suppliers for this show have been sympathetic to that principle,” she added.

The House of David Tlale showcased its new collection in New York on Thursday despite the hiccup.

– TEAMtalk Media