This year NYFW opening day kicked off with a very special panel featuring Kate and Laura Mulleavy the sisters and founders of Rodarte and moderated by Euphoria star Maude Apatow. The pair came out from California to celebrate the opening of the special exhibit The Art of Rodarte celebrating 10 years of the brand and featuring some of the most artistic creations from their work over the years. The exhibit was open to the public all week with reservations and at the exclusive panel, the sisters shared their excitement of seeing the exhibit come to life for the first time on opening day. I was so excited to be covering this LA brand and to see them headlining at NYFW. They described the process of curating the exhibit saying, "This exhibition is interesting because we go to curate is ourselves. NYC is a second home for us and this time the exhibition was more about what we wanted to choose."
The sisters shared the story of their first-ever NYFW where they were discovered by Bridget Foley of WWD. While visiting a friend in New York City they sent designs to several major publications but never heard anything back. Then Bridget Foley took notice of the collection and ended up putting it on the cover of WWD the day before NYFW! After returning to LA they later got a call from Anna Wintour in the most LA place ever--while sitting in traffic on the 405!
They also shared some of the inspirations for their design aesthetic and what goes into creating a Rodarte piece. They talked about their design process and how they like to stay very connected to the process by sketching everything on paper. They joked saying, "We are very old-fashioned there's not a lot of technology involved." As for inspiration, they told the audience, "We are very inspired by nature and art history." They shared that over the years they have learned it is important to listen to your gut as a designer. The sisters are very traditional when it comes to their fashion shows as well. They described the importance of having a fashion show for their collections saying, "In a runway show we can tell a story. Being at a sow especially if it's a theatrical performance, it can really take you somewhere. We have a desire to tell stories and create narratives."
The sisters talked about some of the career-changing moments they had while building their brand including designing costumes for Black Swan.
They described the experience saying, "Black Swan happened so early in our career. In film you're supporting a performance and it is a special powerful experience. Costume designers need to get credit and pay equity because it is a very important part of the story." Working in film was a special experience for the duo. They explained how it had influenced their careers growing up saying, "We didn't grow up seeing fashion. Film and costume design shaped how we saw fashion."
They also told stories from one of their more recent projects where they were asked to create designs for the animated film...The white dress they designed for the main character took 1.5 years for the animators to finish! But they shared that it had been an incredible fun project and different from what they had done before. "We're dreamers." They concluded.
The sisters ended the panel with inspiring remarks for aspiring fashion designers saying, "Fashion is so artistic. We encourage anyone that has love for it to pursue it. Spend the time and dedicate energy to the tings that inspire you."
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