Show Report
Mesmerising, anarchic and unlike any other NY Fashion Week presentations, this was a show to reignite our love of fashion.
It was to be expected that Rodarte's new collection for spring would cause a frenzy - there were people lining up outside with the kind of fervour usually reserved for rock concerts, or free booze after parties. The front row was genuinely star-studded, with Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Elijah Wood, Grace Coddington and Kim Gordon all in attendance, and all seemingly mesmerised by the Rodarte spectacle. Each season, the label's design duo, captivating sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy, manage to take their ferocious, though magical, aesthetic to new extremes. For spring, an earthy and tribal, though thoroughly otherworldly, theme took hold. The show opened, black grit underfoot and poisonous yellow lights overhead, with dry ice pouring down onto the catwalk enveloping the warehouse space. Bedraggled models with severe make-up and clumped hair emerged from the ether to a dark, distorted soundtrack, wearing garments constructed through complex looping, draping, knotting and plaiting. As though stepping to the catwalk from some ancient Scottish moor, the models appeared at once menacing and awe-inspiring, draped in earth-toned ensembles featuring shots of fluorescent yellow and unusual tie-dying and dip-dying techniques. To close the show, three models stood, dry ice pouring down above them, in dramatic floor-length gowns, staring out at the crowd. Mesmerising, anarchic and unlike any other NY Fashion Week presentations, this was a show to reignite our love of fashion.
