Are Rodarte dresses worth it?+
For collectors of artful, romantic-gothic American fashion, Rodarte is among the most worth-it labels out there, precisely because the work is treated as art rather than product. The Mulleavy sisters are famous for a meticulous approach, with one chiffon dress from their 2006 collection taking over 150 hours to complete. You are buying something closer to a wearable sculpture than a seasonal dress.
Why is Rodarte so expensive?+
The prices follow from the sheer labor and the brand's museum-level standing. Rodarte pieces are hand-finished with extraordinary care, and their clothes sit in permanent collections at institutions like the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. When a garment can hang in a museum, its price reflects craft and cultural weight, not just fabric.
Who designs Rodarte?+
Rodarte is designed by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who founded the Los Angeles-based label together. They built the brand without formal fashion training, having returned home to Aptos, California after college. Both credit their West Coast upbringing and the natural American landscape as a major source of inspiration.
What does the name Rodarte mean?+
Rodarte is the original Spanish pronunciation and spelling of the sisters' mother's maiden name, Rodart. Choosing it tied the label directly to their family from the very start. It is a small but telling detail for a brand so rooted in personal history and place.
How did Rodarte get started?+
After leaving college in 2002, the Mulleavy sisters saved roughly USD$16,500 to make a debut capsule, with Laura waiting tables and Kate selling off a collection of rare records. That first collection was just ten pieces, seven dresses and two coats. They took it to New York, landed on the cover of a February 2005 issue of Women's Wear Daily, and soon met Vogue's Anna Wintour, who flew to Los Angeles to see them.
What is the Rodarte aesthetic?+
Rodarte began romantic and has grown, in one 2010 description, darker, riskier, more deconstructed, punk and gothic, drawing on anime, horror films and other unexpected sources. The New Yorker once called the label the fashion equivalent of a Basquiat, beloved by those in the know and inscrutable to everyone else. It is fashion that rewards looking closely and thinking hard.
Which Rodarte collaborations are most collectible?+
Beyond the main line, the sisters have released limited-edition pieces with Gap in spring 2007 and with Target in December 2009, both far more accessible than the runway work. They also made a 2010 MAC Cosmetics line, though that one drew criticism for its Ciudad Juarez inspiration and led to an apology and a $100,000 donation. The fashion collaborations remain the easiest entry points to owning a piece of Rodarte.
What awards has Rodarte won?+
The list is long for a young label: the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2009, the CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear in 2008, and in 2010 the first-ever National Art Award from Americans for the Arts, given as a custom Jeff Koons gold bunny sculpture. Kate and Laura were also among the 2009 United States Artists Fellowship recipients. The honors blur the line between fashion and fine art, which is exactly the point.
Has Rodarte worked in film?+
Yes. Rodarte's costume and design work connects closely to cinema, and pieces tied to the film Black Swan were shown in the 2011 exhibition Rodarte: States of Matter at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The sisters' interest in horror and anime feeds directly into that crossover. It is part of why the brand reads as much as a creative studio as a clothing house.
Where is the best place to buy Rodarte?+
Rodarte sells through its own official channels and select luxury retailers, and given how collectible the work is, the resale market is also active for older runway pieces. Because so many designs are made in tiny numbers and some pieces have entered museum collections, vintage Rodarte holds real interest for collectors. Wherever you shop, look closely at the hand-finishing, which is the brand's signature.
What makes Rodarte different from other American labels?+
Few American houses cross so fully into the art world. Rodarte was the first fashion house to win the National Art Award from Americans for the Arts, and in 2008 the Mulleavys became the first fashion designers featured in Artforum since Issey Miyake in 1982. That gallery-grade recognition, paired with handcraft, sets it apart from more commercially driven peers.
