Rodarte Fall/Winter 2013
Rodarte Fall/Winter 2013
The sisters Mulleavy have a way of taking diverse inspirations and reinterpreting them into garments; in seasons past they taken reference points like Japanese horror, Van Gogh paintings and Terrance Malik’s seminal film ‘Days of Heaven’ and reworked them into collections that moved past simple pastiche. You can always feel the underlying influences that guide a Rodarte collection, but they never overwhelm the clothing itself. Rather, these allusions to high art and cinema serve to ground the Rodarte runway in a larger cultural context, one that befits the sisters’ growing celebrity status. When your brand is collaborating with the likes of Starbucks, you’re no longer just fashion wunderkinds – you’ve moved into the public sphere.
Perhaps that’s why this season the Mulleavy’s chose to stay close to home, looking back to Santa Cruz for inspiration. With a runway designed to echo the look of the city’s famous boardwalk roller coaster and a series of ensembles that relied heavily on the kind of blasé cool that Californians are known for, Rodarte cemented its look for fall. Though the opening styles with their layers of textured black might seem decidedly East Coast, there was a nonchalant vibe that permeated the entire collection. Several looks featured touches that seemed to call to mind Cali surf chicks – body suits peeked out from beneath low slung trousers, transparent panels showed off hints of skin and psychedelic tie-dye patterns worthy of a Phish concert featured prominently. Considering that their isn’t a single other NYFW runway where you’ll be treated to any of this, one has to appreciate the Mulleavy’s commitment to individuality.
Text by Janelle Okwodu
Photos by Billy Rood for Models.com
Rodarte’s designs are going downhill as each season goes. It used to be so fresh. This season, many of the pieces look like….. student projects. Poor construction and fit. Random detailing everywhere too. Rodarte either needs to get better pattern makers so at least these avant garde pieces fit beautifully, or better designers to work with Kate and Laura so it’s not so avant garde and pattern makers can make patterns more easily. Either or…..
couldn’t agree more. in my opinion there’s also a lack of cohesion. it’s everywhere and nowhere, there’s no properly defined ‘rodarte girl’ here..
I disagree that there is poor construction and fit… considering the level of skill these craftsman have, its hard to believe these results aren’t what they were looking for.
Obviously the random detail was a stylistic decision.
And, cohesion is a past necessity. Its unnecessary for a collection to have some general idea of what cohesion is considering it doesn’t effect the quality of each individual piece, which is all that matters in the end. Anyways, i think there is cohesion here… obviously the pieces are a large mixture of patterns and textures, which makes it understandable that the cohesiveness would work in a similar way.
BAMCHIKAWOW
regardless of what anyone says, the idea of cohesion being a necessity isn’t relevant with modern ideas. Look to postmodernism to understand this. Its pointless to care about something like that. An unnecessary and unfounded limitation.