No question about it, the Fannings love them some Rodarte. The fashionable sisters have long been fans of the Mulleavy sisters’ creations, and at last week’s Met Gala, both Dakota and Elle wore Rodarte.
Still, when the Daily Mail reported yesterday that Elle, 15, and Dakota, 19, were designing for Rodarte we raised a collective eyebrow.
These girls were medieval rocker princesses. The word back stage was that Dungeons & Dragons was an inspiration.
Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy curated the latest issue of A Magazine, and for the editorials, they used their favorite muses Elle Fanning and Kirsten Dunst. Rodarte has just posted Elle Fanning’s story on Facebook, photographed by Bill Owens, and it’s gorgeous. Fanning alternately looks like a kid–carrying a surfboard, wearing a Pearl Jam Read more →
A muse to Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy (and me), Elle Fanning is seen here in a shot from the latest issue of A Magazine, which the Mulleavys guest-curated. Bill Owens photographed Fanning for an editorial inspired by Kate and Laura’s experience growing up in California, a theme they’ve been really into lately. They Read more →
Natalie Portman as the Black Swan is poised to be a popular Halloween costume this weekend, especially among fashionistas. The costume is dark and edgy and slutty without being obviously slutty. It’s perfect!
But Rodarte’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who designed Portman’s ballet costumes for the hit film will not be going as Black Swan. Not that we could ever picture the Mulleavys, who dress very simply, in black sequined tutus, but still, now we know for sure. PHEW. WWD caught up with the sisters at FGI’s Night of Stars (they were honored as “luminaries”) and asked if they were dressing up for Halloween. “I don’t know as what yet, which is kind of the conundrum,” Laura said. “Someone asked me the other day, ‘Are you dressing up as Black Swan?’ And I was like, “No, but I know how you can get one because they sell [the costumes] now.” Kate said she doesn’t have a costume yet. So, now you know.
Here are our suggestions for the Rodarte girls:
Last Thursday afternoon, as fashion week came to a close a few avenues west, we sat near its former home at the Bryant Park-adjacent New York Public Library, where Rodarte‘s Kate and Laura Mulleavy were on hand to discuss their new photography book: Rodarte, Catherine Opie, Alec Soth (JRP | Ringier).
For the project, Catherine Opie and Alec Soth, both acclaimed (non-fashion) photographers, collaborated with the Mulleavys on creating original work that explores the world of Rodarte: Opie with a series of portraits of people wearing Rodarte and Soth with landscape shots from a California road trip (the Rodarte sisters gave him a map of places to visit including Berkeley, Big Sur, Santa Cruz, Joshua Tree, the Salten Sea and other places that have inspired their designs).
Catherine Opie also took part in the hour-long discussion with the Mulleavys, offering her perspective on the book’s creation and working with them, but we also learned a lot from Kate and Laura about their affection for California, how they get inspired, why they would never wear their own designs, and their mostly counter-intuitive approach to designing and selling clothes.
Rodarte has just released the look book for their second collection for Opening Ceremony on Facebook and, as always, the Mulleavys don’t disappoint. The sisters were inspired by Scandinavia for this collection, which hits stores and online in October. Silhouettes are long and tiered and cinched at the waist, prints are Nordic-themed, and knits are Fair Isle. Cardigans are done in mohair and metallic lurex and skirts are made of strips of lambskin. The whole collection kinda screams Elle Fanning, in a good way.
Pitti Uomo and Pitti W, the renown trade shows that take place twice-yearly in Florence, will welcome Rodarte‘s Kate and Laura Mulleavy as well as Band of Outsiders‘ Scott Sternberg as this season’s guest designers. (The next edition of Pitti Uomo + Pitti W takes place June 14-17.)
PARIS–Mila Kunis was a hot ticket at yesterday’s Miu Miu show. She looked stunning considering she had only touched down in Paris five hours prior and told us she was “barely, barely” awake. No fewer than three EIC’s of major American glossies–Elle‘s Robbie Myers (with Joe Zee leading the way), Bazaar‘s Glenda Bailey and Marie Claire‘s Joanna Coles–stopped by to chat up the starlet. So expect to see her covering numerous glossies in the coming months.
We figure at least one of these covers will be timed to the July release of her new movie Friends With Benefits costarring Justin Timberlake. (Guess it’s just a coincidence that her Black Swan costar Natalie Portman came out with No Strings Attached, a movie about friends with benefits, last month? Also in French No Strings Attached is called Sex Friends.)
Next up, she tells us she’s going into production on a film called Ted with Mark Wahlberg, directed by Seth MacFarlane. “They’re both very funny,” she assures us regarding her next films. “They’re definitely not Black Swan.”
Speaking of Black Swan, we asked if Kunis had any thoughts on her costumes in the film and that whole drama surrounding who got credit for them.
It’s Sunday, and raining very hard here in New York. We suggest spending the day reading the latest issue of Lula, guest-edited by Rodarte’s Kate and Laura Mulleavy. If you can’t get to the newsstand just now, at least take this questionnaire, dreamed up by the sisters years ago when Kate’s best friend Autumn “started dating a new new guy that I thought we should know more about.” In Lula, everyone from Cindy Sherman to Jason Schwartzman succumbed. Here’s your chance:
Scratch that. This is Rodarte’s first ad, which ran in Anthem magazine’s Fall issue. It actually grew from a project between photographer Autumn de Wilde and Karen Elson, which means it wasn’t necessarily intended for an ad campaign, though it ended up as a crystal clear advertisement tucked in the front of the glossy. Don’t Read more →
