In
place of any raw-toothed tactical strategy, the sisters have intuition.
Over 2020 and 2021, their innate sense of woman-ness has led them to
swing their pendulum into collections about optimism, comfort,
sweetness, sparkle, and motion. What they’ve landed on here, for fall
2022, is equilibrium.
In pastel imagery by Daria Kobayashi Rich,
with set design by Tina Pappas and Adam Siegel and floral design by
Joseph Free, the Mulleavys have found the happiest, tenderest of
marriages between the tiered cascades of blush tulle worn by Lili
Reinhart, the crisp pink suiting donned by Janicza Bravo, the patterned
tea dress on Marlee Matlin, and the jeans—yes jeans, not seen this side
of a Rodarte collection since 2015—and legwarmers on Laura Love. “The
fantasy of what we want to do and create is the number one driving
force,” demurs Kate, but when the Rodarte fantasy intersects so potently
with reality as it does here, the designers’ honestness can feel more
relevant than ever.
The
Mulleavys dug deep into their core for this collection. Ballet has been
a long time reference for them, the fury of dancers’s fragility and
power vibrating in most Rodarte collections. They, of course, famously
explored this in their costumes for Black Swan, and the film reconates
abstractly in their blush-to-black palette this season. In between, they
make pit stops in bright fuchsia and teal, resurrecting their famous
spiderweb knits from fall 2008. “They are practical in a sense that they
mold to your body and impractical in the most amazing way,” says Kate
of the signature knits. The original versions—mini tube dresses and long
cardigans—are back to the sure joy of many fans, but the sisters aren’t
just playing to archive-mania. They’ve also made bustiers and capes in
the knit, the latter worn by Lana Condor in a blue look trimmed in
feathers. “The cape,” Kate says, “is practical and whimsical.” And
sometimes you need fashion to be just that, equal parts a slip dress and
a fantasia. It’s that kind magic that makes so many celebrities show up
for a Rodarte photoshoot: The girls who get it, get it.
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