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By Alexander Patino
Rodarte’s
Primordial World
Primordial World
With ‘RODARTE, CATHERINE OPIE, ALEC SOTH’ – four artistic, creative minds
converge to illuminate fans and followers on the intricate influences and thought
processes behind Rodarte – one of the 21st century’s most heralded design duos.
Kate and Laura Mulleavy have been riding an impressive clout wave for over five years
with their designer line Rodarte, having reached the crest of their popularity with their
costume design credit for last fall’s Academy Award winning Natalie Portman vehicle
"Black Swan". Since then the sisters have been invited to show at Italy’s Pitti Uomo,
were given their own exhibition – Rodarte: States of Matter – at the Museum of
Contemporary Art-Los Angeles, which opened this past March and have been inducted
in the permanent collections of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, the Museum of Fine Arts-Boston and the Museum at FIT in New York City.
Having broken through the seemingly impenetrable doors of curatorial fine art in such a
condensed time frame, this September saw the duo serving a triple punch in the span
of a week, starting with the debut of their spring 2012 ready-to-wear collection, followed
two days later by an intimate Q&A at the New York Public Library where they promoted
their new book, ending a few days later with the release of Francis Ford Coppola’s
Zoetrope: All-Stories (The Horror Issue), which they were invited to curate.
‘Rodarte, Catherine Opie, Alec Soth’ (JPR/Ringier) is a convergence of four artistic
forces working to explore the different threads, themes and tropes that are the makeup
of the Rodarte universe.
converge to illuminate fans and followers on the intricate influences and thought
processes behind Rodarte – one of the 21st century’s most heralded design duos.
Kate and Laura Mulleavy have been riding an impressive clout wave for over five years
with their designer line Rodarte, having reached the crest of their popularity with their
costume design credit for last fall’s Academy Award winning Natalie Portman vehicle
"Black Swan". Since then the sisters have been invited to show at Italy’s Pitti Uomo,
were given their own exhibition – Rodarte: States of Matter – at the Museum of
Contemporary Art-Los Angeles, which opened this past March and have been inducted
in the permanent collections of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, the Museum of Fine Arts-Boston and the Museum at FIT in New York City.
Having broken through the seemingly impenetrable doors of curatorial fine art in such a
condensed time frame, this September saw the duo serving a triple punch in the span
of a week, starting with the debut of their spring 2012 ready-to-wear collection, followed
two days later by an intimate Q&A at the New York Public Library where they promoted
their new book, ending a few days later with the release of Francis Ford Coppola’s
Zoetrope: All-Stories (The Horror Issue), which they were invited to curate.
‘Rodarte, Catherine Opie, Alec Soth’ (JPR/Ringier) is a convergence of four artistic
forces working to explore the different threads, themes and tropes that are the makeup
of the Rodarte universe.
Kate &
Laura Mulleavy
Laura Mulleavy
For the Mulleavys, it wasn’t a horn-touting endeavor. Well aware that they haven’t been around as long as the deeply rooted iconic brands like the Chanels and Yves Saint Laurent's of the
world, this book was simply a way to pronounce their influences and thought processes into photography through the work of two photographers that the sisters truly admire – Catherine
Opie and Alec Soth. The cornerstone of the Rodarte cosmos is the great state of California. The Mulleavys have been very insistent on this point, though perusing their five year repertoire
leaves the simple fan a bit head-scratchy. That’s exactly where this book comes in – to help the legions of followers break through the esoteric mythos of their work to a clearer
understanding of how the threads have been connected.
At the New York Public Library Q&A, of which only Soth was not in attendance, the sisters spoke about how fashion design was always something they wanted to tackle, yet they still decided
to pursue Liberal Arts degrees at UC Berkeley before getting started. Soon after graduating they moved back home to Los Angeles and started designing after spending a year watching
horror films as a quasi-form of research/point of departure (Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquiere has also been noted as saying that there is always an element of horror cinema imbedded in
his designs).
Opie and Soth’s roles, though the two had never met, nor seen each other’s respective works, were to follow the Rodarte evolution in their own ways. This project marks Opie’s first foray
into fashion. A former professor at Yale, whose work centers mainly around portraits and still-life imagery, the trickiest part was finding a way to anchor herself in the familiar, so she used
her own friends as Rodarte-clad subjects in the two day, twelve hour shoot in Culver City. Soth brought the landscape factor to the project. The Mulleavys set Soth off on a two week roadtrip
through the giant state with a map of specific spots that have directly influenced their work, such as: Oakland, Berkeley, Joshua Tree and Death Valley. What Soth came back with were the
true connecting links between Rodarte’s work and their main muse – California. He captured that primordial essence of the state. In California “you have the ability to escape to extreme
places,” said Kate from the dais. “You are always aware of how close you are to such oldness.”
world, this book was simply a way to pronounce their influences and thought processes into photography through the work of two photographers that the sisters truly admire – Catherine
Opie and Alec Soth. The cornerstone of the Rodarte cosmos is the great state of California. The Mulleavys have been very insistent on this point, though perusing their five year repertoire
leaves the simple fan a bit head-scratchy. That’s exactly where this book comes in – to help the legions of followers break through the esoteric mythos of their work to a clearer
understanding of how the threads have been connected.
At the New York Public Library Q&A, of which only Soth was not in attendance, the sisters spoke about how fashion design was always something they wanted to tackle, yet they still decided
to pursue Liberal Arts degrees at UC Berkeley before getting started. Soon after graduating they moved back home to Los Angeles and started designing after spending a year watching
horror films as a quasi-form of research/point of departure (Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquiere has also been noted as saying that there is always an element of horror cinema imbedded in
his designs).
Opie and Soth’s roles, though the two had never met, nor seen each other’s respective works, were to follow the Rodarte evolution in their own ways. This project marks Opie’s first foray
into fashion. A former professor at Yale, whose work centers mainly around portraits and still-life imagery, the trickiest part was finding a way to anchor herself in the familiar, so she used
her own friends as Rodarte-clad subjects in the two day, twelve hour shoot in Culver City. Soth brought the landscape factor to the project. The Mulleavys set Soth off on a two week roadtrip
through the giant state with a map of specific spots that have directly influenced their work, such as: Oakland, Berkeley, Joshua Tree and Death Valley. What Soth came back with were the
true connecting links between Rodarte’s work and their main muse – California. He captured that primordial essence of the state. In California “you have the ability to escape to extreme
places,” said Kate from the dais. “You are always aware of how close you are to such oldness.”
That old old-school mythic quality felt most palpable in their spring 2011 outing,
which was replete with golden beach bunny/Cali dryad girls of the great
Redwood forests, but in truth – they have never harkened to further distances of
time than like they have in their latest spring 2012 mash-up. If the audience in
attendance, who by then had surely looked over the collection that debuted two
days prior, couldn’t make ends meet, Laura provided the necessary follow-
through. In fact, these latest manipulations of color – like sea foam, ochre,
purple and sunflower yellow are, for the sisters, sure-fire Los Angeles. Laura
and Kate had recently visited a museum right by their home in L.A that housed a
“poison green” portrait Van Gogh had painted of his mother. One can see the
transference of that green in those meticulously pleated tops and even that rich
gold frame laid bare in those stunning jacquard pants they sent down the
runway. Also, not too far off from the museum and from their backyard sits Mount
Wilson observatory, where the resident scientists look at and analyze sunspots.
Mount Wilson also happens to be where it was discovered that the universe is
infinite. Talk about primordial. And to top it all off, the sisters had been watching
Walt Disney’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as of late. Consider the ends met.
The design process is all about “telling a story” and “feeling our way through it,”
offered Laura. It’s never about a specific girl that the sisters have in mind. It
takes the Mulleavys about three months to execute a collection, each of the
sisters working in their own timeline, but it’s the ideas that take the longest time
to develop, they said. This in turn speaks about their lauded manipulation of
fabrics, which they choose to do themselves in order to let said ideas work
themselves out. “You make things because you want to know what it will look
like; to see how it comes out,” Opie chimed in. So the Rodarte creation process
does require a bit of a disconnection, not just from the clientele, but from the
designers themselves. The Mulleavy sisters famously opt out of wearing their
own covetous designs. “I’ve become distant from what we do,” said Laura. “I’d
be very bored if I designed clothes I want to wear day to day.” “This is a creative
process,” added Kate. “People can have a connection with the clothes and
never wear it.” Consider this writer their case in point.
which was replete with golden beach bunny/Cali dryad girls of the great
Redwood forests, but in truth – they have never harkened to further distances of
time than like they have in their latest spring 2012 mash-up. If the audience in
attendance, who by then had surely looked over the collection that debuted two
days prior, couldn’t make ends meet, Laura provided the necessary follow-
through. In fact, these latest manipulations of color – like sea foam, ochre,
purple and sunflower yellow are, for the sisters, sure-fire Los Angeles. Laura
and Kate had recently visited a museum right by their home in L.A that housed a
“poison green” portrait Van Gogh had painted of his mother. One can see the
transference of that green in those meticulously pleated tops and even that rich
gold frame laid bare in those stunning jacquard pants they sent down the
runway. Also, not too far off from the museum and from their backyard sits Mount
Wilson observatory, where the resident scientists look at and analyze sunspots.
Mount Wilson also happens to be where it was discovered that the universe is
infinite. Talk about primordial. And to top it all off, the sisters had been watching
Walt Disney’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as of late. Consider the ends met.
The design process is all about “telling a story” and “feeling our way through it,”
offered Laura. It’s never about a specific girl that the sisters have in mind. It
takes the Mulleavys about three months to execute a collection, each of the
sisters working in their own timeline, but it’s the ideas that take the longest time
to develop, they said. This in turn speaks about their lauded manipulation of
fabrics, which they choose to do themselves in order to let said ideas work
themselves out. “You make things because you want to know what it will look
like; to see how it comes out,” Opie chimed in. So the Rodarte creation process
does require a bit of a disconnection, not just from the clientele, but from the
designers themselves. The Mulleavy sisters famously opt out of wearing their
own covetous designs. “I’ve become distant from what we do,” said Laura. “I’d
be very bored if I designed clothes I want to wear day to day.” “This is a creative
process,” added Kate. “People can have a connection with the clothes and
never wear it.” Consider this writer their case in point.
Rodarte
SS 12
SS 12
Q&A at the NY
Public Library
Public Library
Rodarte
SS 12
SS 12
Rodarte
SS 10
SS 10