Hintmag's Supernova July 07--Rodarte

[Scott]

Somewhere between art and commerce, couture and pop culture, Paris romps and their Pasadena home, exist Kate and Laura Mulleavy, designers of Rodarte. The nascent L.A.-based, New York-showing label is many things: sculptural yet weightless, conceptual yet laid-back, pricey (they sold one dress for $40,000) yet derived from shapes found in nature. Despite, or because of, the curious contradictions, the sisters have shot from suburban California to the forefront of America's newest new wave after only five seasons, now enjoying establishment cred with a CFDA/Vogue Fund nomination earlier this year. We caught up with the enigmatic duo, who discussed everything from body armor to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

What exactly is the Rodarte aesthetic?

KM: Well, Laura and I have a real obsession with couture. We love the unconventional techniques and we try to bring the same sensibility to what we do. Beautiful, but also smart and thought-provoking. And we like clouds.

Clouds?

KM: Like when a lot of fabric ends up weighing nothing. We did this one dress that had thirty meters of silk tulle, but it was practically weightless. Sometimes we'll use twenty fabrics in a single dress.

LM: We also did a coat for fall with a breastplate of brocade, but the whole thing weighs about the same as a piece of paper.

KM: We're also about the interior of the garment. A lot of time people just see big volumes and a lot of pleating, but they don't see the interior control or structure. It's like having a second dress fitted on the inside.

Would you call them costumes?

LM: No.

They're definitely not everyday dresses, though.

LM: For some people they are.

Nan Kempner and Bjork?

LM: (Laughs.) Kind of. I've always felt like our dresses are for elegant old ladies and the avant-garde—people who would buy couture and just wear it to lunch. We have one client in San Francisco who wanted to buy a dress just so she could look at it in her closet.

I love how closets are personal museums. Who else have you dressed?

LM: Kirsten Dunst and Cate Blanchett, who wore a dress to an awards show in Australia. We also love working with musicians like Chan Marshall [of Cat Power] and Jenny Lewis.

KM: Dita Von Teese.

Onstage?

KM: Ooh, we should talk to her about that. She's great because she knows how to move in it.

LM: Basically, our vision is to inspire passion in people. We want people to have a strong reaction to what we do, to not be afraid. I love jeans and a sweater, but not everything needs to be that. It gets stale.

KM: Our stuff is not the easiest to wear. Some dresses are for standing only, not for sitting down. A client has to want to stand out and really go with us to the Rodarte place. It's not an impulse buy. The pieces aren't sexy in that way. Sexy to me is subversive.

Where does this subversiveness come from?

KM: I don't know. Our dad is a botanist and our mom is an artist, so we're influenced by anything from the way a piece of bark looks to literature and art. We don't look at other people's clothes or reference other designers.

Did you always want to be designers?

LM: No. When we were younger, we wanted to be beach bums.

Did you do the fashion school thing? You don't seem like the types.

KM: No, we both went to Berkeley. Laura was an English major with an emphasis in modern Irish literature and I majored in 19th- and 20th-century art with an emphasis in 19th-century French photography. We actually loved being in school, only I didn't like the mathy stuff. I was telling Laura recently how annoying it is that we have to use math at all now.

Where does the name Rodarte come from?

KM: Our mom's side of the family is Mexican-Italian. Rodarte is her maiden name.

That's perfect for the kind of wearable art you make. Thanks, Mom. Did she also endow you with your fashion bug?

LM: Not in the sense that she'd walk around the house in couture. Although, every time I see a Prada collection, I think of her. That's kind of how she dressed. She's from Rome. Ultimately, though, we come from a weird hippy scientist family.

Do you fall along the same lines as your parents? Which of you is the scientist and which is the artist?

KM: Here's a really good story about us. When we were little, our mom gave us each a little sketchbook. When she looked through them the next day, she saw that I had just drawn a lot of peacock dresses, but Laura had drawn maps of our house, like a map of our kitchen and even the boxes of sugar in the cupboard. Some people are more Freudian and some people are more C.S. Lewis.

The Chronicles of Rodarte?

KM: Totally. So the end result is that people can look at our work and think it's really exciting or they can say it's unacceptable and absurd.

 

[Scott]

contd..

Has that ever happened?

KM: Not quite like that. But people have said it's not ready-to-wear, which I guess is true.
You've gotten off easy if that's the worst someone has said.

KM: We try to stay oblivious, too. Anytime you put anything out there, people will have opinions. One time a buyer told me to put a nude lining in one of our dresses and it sent me into a rage. He said it had to have a nude chiffon lining and made a big deal about it. We were, like, eeew, that's so creepy ice skater. Later I was telling a friend about it. Turns out she had recently bought a dress that had to be fitted. When she went to pick it up, it suddenly had a nude lining. It was him! Apparently he does that all the time.

He's like the nude chiffon fairy.

KM: Maybe if we actually do need to do that, we can call him.

Let's talk about the fall collection. The body armor thing blew me away.

KM: The idea of it was, when you look at a Velázquez painting, of course you see the courtly figures, but then you see figures that are armored. The collection is based on that kind of Renaissance armor look.

LM: Specifically, armored sleeves. We had a black coat that looked like it was patent leather, but it was laminated wool, so those sleeves were so heavy. But that was the only heavy piece. The rest of the collection was georgette, taffeta and brocade. We did a coat with amazing paisley brocade from the '20s. It was rare fabric someone had given us.

Rare is a good word to describe Rodarte.

LM: But in a weird way, we weren't entirely aware of the rare thing until this year at the CFDA awards. They showed a video montage for each designer, and you could really see the grand tradition with, like, Oscar de la Renta or Marc Jacobs. And then there was our video.

Is the grand tradition something you want to fit into?

KM: We love dressmaking history. We recently went through the FIT closets with Valerie Steele and we saw all these iconic Charles James dresses that I've seen in a million books. We could go underneath them and see the interiors and all the amazing colors, like insane yellow, fuchsia and snow-white ivory. They're works of art, like floating ghosts. I also think Coco Chanel was a genius, She defines modern design and marketing. She might not have really invented the little black dress, but she convinced the world she did. She's unparalleled.

LM: We'd love to be like the Chanel brand, the way it's instantly recognizable. Or like Galliano or McQueen. They have such clear voices. We want people to hold up a dress and say this has to be Rodarte.

When did things start coming together?

LM: When we came to New York for the first time. We didn't know anyone, but we wanted to show our dresses to someone. The first meeting we had was at WWD. There were an array of editors. Kate and I were terrified. Three days later we were on the cover, just before Fashion Week. Then we got a call from a friend saying Ana Wintour wanted to meet us.

How did that go?

LM: She was really generous and kind. She said she knew what we were doing was really personal and we should keep it that way.

What are some other brushes with fashion fame?

KM: We met Karl Lagerfeld earlier this year on our first trip to Paris for Colette's 10th anniversary. We were at the store when he came in with Lady Amanda Harlech and bought one of our dresses for her. It was an out-of-body experience for us.

LM: It didn't feel real until six months later.

Have you ever thought about working in film?

KM: I would love that.

Any film in particular?

KM: It would need to be a film with costumes that can translate to real life, like an Yves Saint Laurent and Pink Panther kind of thing, or Armani and The Untouchables.

What about Marie Antoinette?

KM: Ooh, Versailles, but we'd do it with Chanel couture.

Have you been invited to show at couture week in Paris?

KM: No, but that's a dream of ours. We probably already spend as much time on our collections as the couturiers. One time, just a crazy bow took so long to make that by the time it was on the rack, Laura vowed never to do another one.

Do you have time for anything else?

KM: Of course. We love pop culture as much as anyone. Sometimes we watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer as we drape.

I can see that.

KM: To me, watching Buffy is like watching a [Jean-Luc] Godard film. They're kind of the same in a weird way. They're both about teen angst.

Hmmm, food for thought. Anything else you want Hintsters to know?

KM: That we're not about pairing jeans with a jacket. We think about everything in a 360-degree way, not just the front and back. It's very thought-out and controlled.

Some might say tortured?

KM: [Laughs.] But shortcuts never look as good. Look at old Chanel and Vionnet. They stand the test of time.

Maybe your dresses should come with an instruction manual so the person buying it can read about the concept and all the various parts that went into its making.

KM: Yeah, that would be rad. Like, this is what we were thinking, this is how you should stand. But wait, that's even more work!

*hintmag.com

 

[SomethingElse]

This is without a doubt the best interview I have read in ages and ages. Thank you, Scott!. So many memorable and poignant lines and thoughts, but this one made me howl with glee: "the nude chiffon fairy".

 

[LostInNJ]

While I love the idea of what they are doing, I often wonder how long it will last. Some retailers who started carrying their line in the beginning, nixed it because it was to expensive. I feel like it is a matter of time before they do a collaboration or a less expensive line.

 

[ilaughead]

Some really good insight in here. I didn't know that they were building the Rodarte brand further.

 

[Scott]

you're welcome,something else*.

yeah,i think for american talents--in california no less--it's really quite refreshing what they're doing...their perspectives and aesthetics. it's so different from what we're seeing in the u.s....that drama and sense of craftsmanship in the way of their work with volume and structure....not to mention the decadent textures. and i really love that they have such an immense appreciation for tradition. as they said,it's so rare especially for them to take on these traditions that aren't so 'traditionally' american. but so imaginitive,they are. and in a way,i think not being surrounded by hype machine and the industry capital as one be would in ny,it kind of fuels their creativity.

 

[vetements]

While I love the idea of what they are doing, I often wonder how long it will last. Some retailers who started carrying their line in the beginning, nixed it because it was to expensive. I feel like it is a matter of time before they do a collaboration or a less expensive line.

think they already had a small one with the gap for the white shirts

 

[zamb]

Well If they want to continue, they will have to expand into other categories of stuff and other (cheaper?) areas of the market.
I sometimes like their work, and i like them as two young ladies doing this kind of work ...........what i dont like is their dishonesty,
What do they mean they dont reference or look at other designers work?

Is any sensible person to believe that?
do they create clothes in a vortex? or a Vacuum?
How do they learn then, especially not going to a traditional fashion School?
If they didnt, how then could they say they want to be as recognizable as Chanel? or Galliano? or Mcqueen even?
I look at their work and I see a lot of Olivier Theyskens detailing and Shapes, Is it coincidence?

they do good work, better than many here in America.............. they just dont need to be dishonest with it.

 

[LostInNJ]

think they already had a small one with the gap for the white shirts

Oops, I forgot about that I guess, however, that proves my point that they have to venture out in order to stay afloat. Thanks for bringing this in btw Scott

 

[wheneveriwakeup]

I think they'll be great when they've finally learned how to center and ground their ideas/inspiration.

 

[gius]

i'm hearing about them more and more.. they seem so interesting!!
no fashion schooling? did they learn it all by themselves?
some of their garments, it really reminds me of couture (and yeah also bark and leaves and things ). so much work, i can somewhat sympathise with their prices. seems so many odd treatments to the fabrics...
so many questions.
hmm do they create the fabrics themselves or is it custom-made, bought from someplace? some really do look quite weird

are they really ready-to-wear?
from the sound of it sometimes, they make it themselves or employ a small group of people--does anyone know? i can't find it in any of their bios

i read they live in their parents' cottage. laura works as a waiter
i guess it's nice to have the rent out of the way and you have more space to work

 

[gius]

....I sometimes like their work, and i like them as two young ladies doing this kind of work ...........what i dont like is their dishonesty, What do they mean they dont reference or look at other designers work?

Is any sensible person to believe that?
do they create clothes in a vortex? or a Vacuum?
How do they learn then, especially not going to a traditional fashion School?
If they didnt, how then could they say they want to be as recognizable as Chanel? or Galliano? or Mcqueen even?
I look at their work and I see a lot of Olivier Theyskens detailing and Shapes, Is it coincidence?

they do good work, better than many here in America.............. they just dont need to be dishonest with it.

i think they just mean they try to follow their own style, they want to create designs that mean something to them, that is more personal
If they reference or create a style similar to another designer, they wouldn't have that--the work would just look like that other designer's. They want to be recognised for their style, not someone else's (as what they were saying about Chanel ... and Galliano and Mcqueen--like if you see work by them, you can tell it's by them)

 

[thesiren]

they are the only exciting designers in american fashion. things they do look fresh and upbeat in a non-obnoxious way, which is something american fashion really lacks.

 

[Scott]

i think they just mean they try to follow their own style, they want to create designs that mean something to them, that is more personal
If they reference or create a style similar to another designer, they wouldn't have that--the work would just look like that other designer's. They want to be recognised for their style, not someone else's (as what they were saying about Chanel ... and Galliano and Mcqueen--like if you see work by them, you can tell it's by them)

and it's possible anyway. i mean chalayan....no one could ever say he was/is influenced or references anybody. as does mcqueen and the bode of first and second generation belgian and japanese talents. they all tend have very distinct,very personal styles which seperates them from so many. and i think if laura and kate can continue to do that they could very well have a long-lasting,genuine career. and your points gius,is prolific. i think that's another attribute to their talents is their lack of traditional schooling. not everybody can do that. and hell,i see so many that attended school and are utter crap and they haven't the respect for traditions as these two seem to so much.....and doing it interestingly.

 

[gius]

It guess that they regard craftmanship quite highly so they're willing to learn all the special techniques and especially willing to really perfect and do things on a professional level. I totally agree also with how they say in the interview, it's nature they mostly use as reference.. It's completely possible and you can see it in their pieces. There is a huge variety of shapes and textures to want to replicate in nature for the dresses and clothes.. the source it's endless..
I think you can learn from other designers, the way they design and do things, but you won't necessarily be using them as reference, like I see a lot of interesting seams and shaping at Marni or Y Yamamoto but I wouldn't say that is the kind of clothing I would want to make myself

Anyway it's really nice I guess--I remember reading at TFS that it's really required to have a degree to do fashion design.. Some of us who want to do a degree in something else have some hope

What exactly is the Rodarte aesthetic?

KM: Well, Laura and I have a real obsession with couture. We love the unconventional techniques and we try to bring the same sensibility to what we do. Beautiful, but also smart and thought-provoking. And we like clouds.

I wonder what they mean by unconventional techniques
Maybe the cutting of fabric as decor than structure...
I have seen a couture book with instructions on how to make fabric roses, among other kinds of construction.. lots of this handsewn, handcrafted type things

 

[dior_couture1245]

I really wish that I could meet them...I live in Pasadena, too.

 

[Scott]

hey,gius,don't forget olivier theyskens didn't even finish his first year at La Cambre before getting frustrated with the system and dropping out.....and look at his strength over the years + his technical skill level. i remember in harper's bazaar(just before liz passed)he saying that he learnt everything from his seamstress grandmother. i'm not condoning not attending a school but it's certainly possible if you've got a strong identity and some technical skill. even raf simons,linda loppa told him,as he approached the academy,he did not need school as he already a strong identity not to mention his architectural background. and i think megan and kate even got alot of their dressmaking skill from their mother.

 

[gius]

thanks scott i'm really glad to hear that. i guess as long as you get a good education (be it from your grandmother or school) it really helps. and that part about the identity really makes sense. it's maybe the thing that's pushing the designer to advance in the work, to specialise in a certain 'look'. maybe lots of drawing helps improve someone's identity as an artist/designer? or maybe just lots of practice. i notice lots of my mates at school have trouble with this
anyway will definitely start researching theyskens and rodarte as of today