Rodarte Overview

Sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy launched their clothing line Rodarte in spring 2005 after coming to New York City from their native Pasadena, California. They were quickly recognized for their incredible attention to detail, and feminine, romantic aestetic. Their beatiful hand-crafted... [more]

Sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy launched their clothing line Rodarte in spring 2005 after coming to New York City from their native Pasadena, California. They were quickly recognized for their incredible attention to detail, and feminine, romantic aestetic. Their beatiful hand-crafted dresses won them the highly-coveted Perry Ellis Council of Fashion Designers Award, thus launching them onto the pages of every major fashion magazine and on the runways of Fashion Week. Kate and Laura, who studied art history and English literature at UC Berkeley, respectively, refer to themselves as "nerds" and cite Gainsborough paintings and Richard Avedon photographs as major sources of inspiration. They have an unbelievably refined sense of workmanship, and their first few collections were initially criticized for being so intricate. Their most recent colection, featured at Spring/Summer 2008 Fashion Week, exhibited a great departure from their previous frothy, romantic clothes. After a trip to Japan on behalf of their collaboration with Gap, their collection represented an interest in Japanese style and an almost tongue-in-cheek approach to "cute" clothing. They have moved on from frills and roses and featured an almost futuristic sensibility. With clean lines and exaggerated silhouettes, their collection still managed to maintain the feminine look that made them so popular while simultaneously graduating to a much more sophisticated design sense. Endorsed by fashion editrix Anna Wintour and popular with celebrities such as Kirsten Dunst and Zooey Deschanel, the sisters have the kind of talent that promises an enduring career. Regardless of their fame and recognition, they still share a bedroom in their parents Pasadena home. [show less]