Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe's dress to the Met Gala was a 'big mistake,' Bob Mackie says

• Bob Mackie said Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe's dress to the Met Gala was a "big mistake."
• The Emmy-award-winning designer originally sketched the 1962 Jean Louis gown.
• "Nobody else should be seen in that dress," he told Entertainment Weekly. 

Bob Mackie, the designer who originally sketched the Marilyn Monroe dress Kim Kardashian wore to the 2022 Met Gala, told Entertainment Weekly it was a mistake to bring the gown out of retirement.

Mackie, 82, a nine-time Emmy award-winning costume and fashion designer, was just 23 when he drew the sketches that would go on to become the body-hugging sparkly gown Monroe wore to sing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, Entertainment Weekly's Maureen Lee Lenker reported.

The designer told the publication he did not approve of the iconic dress, owned by the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, being borrowed by Kardashian for fashion's biggest night. 

"I thought it was a big mistake," he said, according to the publication. "[Marilyn] was a goddess. A crazy goddess, but a goddess. She was just fabulous. Nobody photographs like that. And it was done for her. It was designed for her. Nobody else should be seen in that dress."

Because the gown is now in such a delicate condition, the SKIMS founder only wore it to walk up the Met Gala steps before changing into a replica, Insider previously reported.

A representative for Mackie said he would not be providing further comment on the topic. 

But the designer is far from the only person to publicly criticize the decision to let Kardashian rewear the dress following the event on May 2. 

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) released a statement on May 9 saying "historic garments should not be worn by anybody, public or private figures."

"The dress that belonged to Marilyn Monroe was custom made by French designer Jean Louis in the color to match her skin tone, it was sewn on her," it read. "She didn't use any underwear to give a more vivid sensation that she was naked. The material is soufflé silk, which is no longer available, so it's irreplaceable."

However, a representative for Monroe's estate said their team thought Monroe would've given her stamp of approval to let Kardashian wear the dress, Insider previously reported. 

Kardashian added her own voice to the controversy during a pre-Met Gala interview with Vogue, saying that she was "extremely respectful to the dress and what it means to American history."

"I would never want to sit in it or eat in it or have any risk of any damage to it and I won't be wearing the kind of body makeup I usually do," she added. "Everything had to be specifically timed and I had to practice walking up the stairs."

Representatives for Kim Kardashian did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.