Rodarte’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy Talk Fashion Off and On the Runway – WWD
Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sisters behind Rodarte, took center stage Friday night in a discussion with actress Maude Apatow as part of NYFW: The Talks at Spring Studios.
The discussion centered on how they started the brand, the designers’ inspiration, and their multiple artistic projects, such as designing costumes for “Black Swan,” and “Sing 2.”
The sisters, who were born in California, both attended University of California, Berkeley, where Kate studied art history and Laura majored in English Literature. Together they founded Rodarte (their mother’s maiden name) in 2005.
“It’s 17 years since it’s become one of the most influential American fashion brands,” claimed Apatow, who appears in the HBO drama series “Euphoria, and is the 24-year-old daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann.
Laura Mulleavy said she went to look at “The Art of Rodarte,” the immersive experience at Spring that features their work for runway and screen, which they curated themselves, and said when you see it all together as a designer “it’s really nice to see how things bleed into each other.”
“It’s very powerful to see in that way. It’s really cool, so go see it.” she told the packed audience.
After graduating college they designed ballet costumes for their friend’s performance piece. “I had always thought of being a. designer as a child,, but wasn’t pursuing it in college, and I think we said, ‘I think we really want to do this,’” said Kate, whose birthday was Friday night. They had artistic skills but didn’t have any idea how the industry works.
“Laura got a job waitressing, and we had a conversation that I would not get a job waitressing,” said Kate, who said she probably wouldn’t get hired or get any tips. They decided they wanted to put a collection together and would figure out how to make it. Kate had a record collection that they sold to raise money to buy some fabrics.
“We built our first collection, which was 10 pieces. We had never been in New York City. A friend of ours was living here, and she said, ‘come stay with me.’” They flew to New York and and made paper dolls that were hand-made, and you put the clothes on and there was an armoire. They sent them out, and didn’t get any responses.
About four days into their trip here they thought it might have been a mistake to do this. “Someone at Women’s Wear Daily got the dolls, and I got a phone call and they said come down and we’ll see you. Bridget Foley, Bobbi Queen and Nan D’Souza saw the collection and I just remember they were all looking at the clothes They said they wanted to ask some questions and take pictures of the clothes A day later, they called us and said go down to the nearest newsstand, and they put us on the cover! And it was the day before New York Fashion Week,” said Kate.
Apatow said many of Rodarte’s collections have been inspired by the redwood trees and Santa Cruz and asked how they manage to design from the heart and design for art.
“There’s something very personal to us that will kind of guide us the rest of our careers,” said Laura She said you listen to your gut as a designer. “We love textiles, we love texture and we love organic symmetry and experimentation. It’s something Kate and I share,” she said. Growing up with Kate, they saw the same things and went to the same college. ” I think that shared dialog does come out in the work,” said Laura.
As they’ve grown, their style has evolved, but certain styles stand out. “I like the pieces that I remember saying, ‘I’ll never do that again,’” said Kate. “These are the pieces that are so hard to make.”
They once designed a mermaid dress that had real sand in the tulle. She said she remembers thinking because of this technique, they’re never going to get into Bergdorf Goodman, but they did. She said the pieces where you take more risk, where sometimes you do something that’s pushing you further and it doesn’t quite land the way you want, and it can be discouraging, those are the collections that are talked about.
The conversation turned to the costumes that the Rodarte sisters designed for the film “Black Swan.” Their friend Natalie Portman, who starred in the movie, introduced them to the director, Darren Aronofsky. They were asked how is that different than designing a fashion collection.
“‘Black Swan’ happened so early in our careers, in 2009. That was a really magical experience,” said Kate. “We have the archive of the costumes and take them out for museum shows [and hadn’t looked at the film in years] but I said, ‘I’m going to watch it. It just felt like something out of body.’ That’s what I love about working in film,” said Kate. She said it has that transformative feeling, where all the elements such as production, actors, costume designs, and directors come together.
“That’s one of the most special things we’ve ever worked on,” said Kate.
Laura added “In fashion you’re kind of in your own island, but in film, you are bringing someone’s vision to life, and you’re supporting someone’s performance.”
“It’s an interesting ability to be a part of something and not take the lead, it’s kind of a powerful experience and it’s really special,, and you can say, ‘this is what I contribute that actually makes something better.’ Costume designers need to get more credit. They’re some of the hardest working group of people on sets. Pay equity is really important. It’s a very important part of the industry, just as fashion,” said Laura.
When asked what led them from “Black Swan” to directing their own film, “Woodshock,” Laura said, “I was on set at ‘Black Swan’ and they were shooting the ballet, and I said, ‘I want to do this. That was the moment.’ I went home and I called Kate and said, ‘I think we should direct,’ and she said, ‘I know.’”
As reported, as part of “The Art of Rodarte,” there’s an immersive experience conceptualized and produced by IMG Focus and powered by Yahoo technology. It features an up-close look at Rodarte’s work. An industry preview and reception was held Feb. 11 and the exhibition, in partnership with IMG and Afterpay, is open to the public until Tuesday with free time-ticketed access on the ground floor of Spring Studios.
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