After their F/W10 Gagosian extravaganza and rowdy after-party during Fashion Week, one could be on Rodarte overload. Still, their current exhibition, presented by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, is not to be missed. Housed in the Carnegie Mansion, Quicktake:Rodarte is a decomposed wonderland of Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s inspired creations. The exhibition, which launched last week with a star-studded cocktail fête, aims to give the brand’s fans a peek into the sisters’ unconventional design process. Judging by their affinity for eyeliner, black garb and the fact that horror films are a frequent inspiration (last fall’s veiny, crinkled dresses and thigh high boots came from images of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein), its a somewhat dark one. Perhaps this is why—along with curators Gregory Krum and Susan Brown—they so poignantly embraced the show’s theme: decay.
Walking up the mansion’s grand staircase, one finds the frayed dégrader peach party dresses and mohairs from F/W08. The looks are posed against a pale, spackled backdrop. The wall is painted to appear eroded—if delicately so. Next come the green and gray looks from F/W09. Shown against a similar background, they appear serene, enchanting and just slightly eerie. Those famed boots, with straps crisscrossing up to the thigh, are collapsed on the dowdy floor. Then comes the exhibition’s third, final and most dramatic instillation: a selection of looks from S/S09 placed inside a burnt, almost disintegrating black alcove. Metallic shoes glare out of holes in the broken wood floor, and like a ray of light, a rainbow goddess gown tucked in the corner stands out amongst the otherwise dark display.
Naturally, the girls took part in creating this symbolic set-up, and each of the pieces in the show—from the python leggings to the buckled bomber jacket—is a testament to the pair’s talent, growth and evolution. They may be young, and they’re certainly unorthodox, but the Rodarte sisters have proven that they have a booming voice in New York’s fashion industry.
Quicktake: Rodarte is on view Now through March 14, 2010 at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
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