Huntington Library to Host Rodarte Designers Runway Show
Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy have revealed the venue for their upcoming fall 2019 runway show to be at the Huntington. This will be an L.A. homecoming for the duo.
The show comes a day ahead of the opening of New York Fashion Week and marks the first time the L.A. designers have presented a collection on the West Coast.
A-List attendees are anticipated for Tuesday’s extravaganza. Cate Blanchett, Kanye West, Beyonce—and lots more—have all been seen wearing the brand.
After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2001, Kate and Laura Mulleavy returned home to Pasadena where they started Rodarte. The Mulleavys founded their handcraft-luxe label in their parents’ Pasadena guest house in 2005, with just 10 pieces.The brand’s first runway collection debuted in September 2005 to critical acclaim, and they never looked back.
They possess no formal training in fashion or design, and their avant style isn’t, shall we say, confected with the masses in mind. Floral, gothic, “out there” are some of the adjectives that have been applied to their eclectic productions.
The Mulleavy sisters’ taste is heavily inspired by the West Coast and their California upbringing. Their runway collections are often built around narratives inspired by their California upbringing, from weekend jaunts to the gritty Santa Cruz boardwalk (tie-dyed slipdresses, studded biker jackets and tattoo embroideries from fall 2013), to long afternoons spent playing beneath the majestic redwoods (tooled leather jackets, wood grain print dresses, “Chinese plaid” shirts and pants and carved wooden heels from spring 2011).
Over the years, they have shown their collection during both New York and Paris fashion weeks, and developed a cult following among the art and Hollywood crowds.
The sisters wrote and directed a film about the Redwood forest in 2017 that starred Kirsten Dunst. They also helped design costumes for the 2010 psychological horror film Black Swan starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis.
They dressed “Crazy Rich Asians” actress Constance Wu at the Critics’ Choice Awards earlier this month; “Black Panther” star Danai Gurira for the 2019 Golden Globes; Elle Fanning; Brie Larson; Natalie Portman; Sarah Paulson; Katy Perry; former First Lady Michelle Obama, and more, and collaborating with the likes of fine art photographers Catherine Opie and Nan Goldin.
They’ll be showing Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. at The Huntington Library and Gardens in their hometown of Pasadena, Calif. The landmark was established by Southern California pioneer and railroad tycoon Henry E. Huntington in 1920, first as a library for rare books, photographs and letters written by the likes of Chaucer, George Washington and Henry David Thoreau, and later as an art gallery for the family’s American and European art holdings including Thomas Gainsborough’s famous painting “The Blue Boy.” There are also 120 acres of botanical gardens, including a Japanese, Rose and Desert ones in which to hold an afternoon fashion show.
“We have dreamt of doing a show at The Huntington since we first started designing. Our grandmother and mother introduced us to The Huntington as children and we have been inspired by its beauty ever since,” the designers said. “We specifically drew inspiration from the gardens for our spring 2007 collection, and it will be amazing to see the fall 2019 collection presented in this location.”
Rodarte has partnered with JNSQ — short for je ne sais quoi — on the event, which will mark the launch of the California winery’s rose cru. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens are located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA. Visit www.huntington.org.
