Rodarte showed a spring collection that was eminently “wearable” — which I guess is fashionspeak for “there were no horror-film-inspired dresses that looked like they were bleeding this time around.” And nothing made of tentacles of black leather, either. Nor any rag-bag collages. What front-row guests like Elle and Dakota Fanning, Tavi Gevinson, Taylor Swift, Solange Knowles, and Her Gravid Eminencé, The Pregnancé saw at yesterday’s show were neat little dresses, many of which followed a 1950s silhouette.
The collection was obviously inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. If there’s something a little doggedly literal about taking a painting you like and printing it on a dress — something a little kitsch, a little gallery-postcard-rack — well, Kate and Laura Mulleavy are clearly making kitsch the point. My aesthetic preference tends towards the outfits that offered a less 1:1 take on Van Gogh. But I kind of appreciate, at least in theory, the smirking quality of a $4,000 dress that looks a little like a blown-up version of a $4 museum gift shop mug.
The Mulleavy sisters stuck with some of their signatures — such as looks that expose the area of a woman’s body that lies roughly between the belly button and the sternum. (That also happens to be a favorite body part of Miuccia Prada.)
The eye makeup was “Starry Night”-inspired. And the heels were like sculptures. (The shot on the right also doubles as another ringing endorsement of Activ-Flex Band-Aids.)
And those sweaters? Chunky knit sweaters in easter-egg colors that are cabled on top and basket-weave down below? I cannot wait to make myself one for spring. I’ll probably wear it belted with a kicky skirt just like Jourdan Dunn here.
I liked the ruched leather tops.
But my personal favorites were probably the striped silk pieces.