Swimsuit

Camille Kostek Helped Design Her Dress for the SI Swim Launch Party

The model went for a mermaid look.

Jordi Lippe-McGraw

Camille Kostek Shows Off Her Dress

Camille Kostek certainly has a flair for fashion. The SI Swimsuit model is known for showing off her curves on the red carpet and did just that at the SI Swimsuit launch event in New York City on May 19. But the 30-year-old took it one step further by actually being involved in the design process for the big night.

“Usama Ishtay designed the dress, and I love his work,” says Kostek. “It’s a custom dress in turquoise because my favorite color is blue. Blue is such a high vibrational color. We worked on it together. But originally the dress was going to be a gunmetal color. So I ended up changing the material and the color. I like to be hands-on and very creative.”

View Camille Kostek's full 2022 gallery here.

Camille Kostek on the SI Swimsuit 2022 red carpet wearing a dress she designed with Usama Ishtay.

She adds, “It also originally didn’t have sleeves—I wanted to add a sleeve. It originally had a huge slit up the leg left side of the leg, and I actually had them close up the slit and add a corset into the piece. [I figured] since we were going to take out the leg-slit moment, let’s have a very sexy body moment on top. It’s very form-fitting, very mermaid. It’s like I stepped out of the ocean.”

Usama Ishtay is the same designer who created the gold hip cut-out ensemble—one that caused quite a stir—that Kostek wore to the Sports Illustrated Awards in December.

Kostek rocked the look on the red carpet for hours, where she was hosting a livestream interviewing everyone from cover stars Ciara and Yumi Nu to rookies Katie Austin and Christen Harper. “My worlds are colliding with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and Camille host,” Kostek says. “This is my favorite time of year!”

Camille Kostek on the SI Swimsuit 2022 red carpet wearing a dress she designed with Usama Ishtay

Camille Kostek on the SI Swimsuit 2022 red carpet wearing a dress she designed with Usama Ishtay

Purchase tickets to the upcoming SI Swimsuit launch events in Florida on May 21 and 22. 

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Jordi Lippe-McGraw
JORDI LIPPE-MCGRAW

Jordi Lippe-McGraw is a Contributing Editor for SI Swimsuit covering all things lifestyle from travel and beauty to entertainment and wellness. Over her nearly 15-year-long journalism career, her work has appeared in the New York Times, WSJ Magazine, Forbes, and more. Plus, she’s appeared on TV shows such as Wendy Williams, TODAY, E!, and MSNBC for her expertise. Jordi's personal passion for travel has brought her to over 50 countries on all 7 continents, including Antarctica at 5 months pregnant. She's also an avid penguin and truffle lover.