September 14, 2016 |
The spirit of Rodarte SS17 was the Spirit of the Beehive, apparently. Because they told us so. “It all started with the bees,” Kate Mulleavy said backstage after the show. This was a magical moment. Ephemeral. Pollen and honeycomb were imagined through “clumpy” textures and prints, hornets and bees through layering and the different dotted fabrics. And lots of lace, of course. This is Rodarte, after all. There was a darkness here too. A bit sinister. The girls moved slowly around the beds of flowers. And, following last season there was touch of the Westerns to it. So where did that come from? “We were really into Janis Joplin… we had just watched a documentary about her, we wanted the spirit of her. An ode to Woodstock. That was seen through the fuschia.” And a lot of fringing. Which were into, naturally. Love a dangly something. There were leather pieces, too, a heavier, darker contrast to the rest of the collection, where each dress felt so light. “People complain about the pieces that are heavier but I thin sometimes the heavier stuff is the coolest,” Kate said. She’s right. We want to wear it. When in less heated climbs. We want to wear the whole collection to be honest. Dark, complex, multi-layered, crafted. It was organic. So who was the Rodarte girl today? “She’s an individual. She’s a dreamer. It’s funny because I think when you make fashion everyone wants to know who it is you’re dressing, but I think what’s so interesting about what we do is it appeals to so many different people. It’s just an emotional connection. If someone feels emotional about it, then it transforms into a part of their life.” And it did. It’s now a part of our life. Thanks girls.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
