Rodarte’s spring collection, inspired by the golden hour in California, is a testament to the power of nature and the beauty of unexpected pairings. While the collection was created amidst a heatwave in Los Angeles, the inspiration wasn’t the sweltering temperatures, but the mesmerizing glow of the California sunset.
As Laura Mulleavy, one half of the design duo, explained, “It’s an ode to California golden hour. Yes, it was all pretty organic; all the wildlife and the desert blooms. Things that really tend to have a huge influence on us texturally.”
Lace, a recurring theme throughout the collection, wasn’t simply a fabric choice, but a guiding force shaping the silhouettes. “Usually we get fabrics and we spend so much time thinking about how to mold them into what we want to do,” said Kate Mulleavy. “A lot of the time it’s almost like trying to defy gravity, because you really want to use a fabric in a certain way and it pushes you into the outer limits in terms of what’s possible.” Laura added, “We went through a couple of rounds of sketches for the laces because we were so inspired by it, and then we realized that you couldn’t just see what was beautiful about the lace itself. It’s nice to just look at what this fabric wants to be.”
The designers embraced the natural flow of the lace, resulting in dresses with minimal seams and darts, as if the fabric itself was dictating the design. This approach is evident in the opening look, a white off-the-shoulder dress with flowing lace sleeves, and the subsequent look, a strapless black lace top paired with an asymmetrical skirt.
The collection also features a diverse range of textures, including geometric lace patterns reminiscent of Southwestern motifs, floral lace skirts with a crochet-like feel, and shimmering metallic linen in sunset shades of pink and yellow. This linen, particularly, takes on a transformative quality under the light, resembling shiny PVC or molten metal, reflecting the collection’s focus on the interplay of light and texture.
Beyond the individual fabrics, the collection thrives on unexpected pairings. A black cotton eyelet dress adorned with white sequins or a delicate black silk embroidered dress punctuated with white crochet-esque cotton insets showcase this approach, creating a harmonious yet surprising blend of textures.
“The starting point was lace and things like the metallic linen: it feels like there was a real organic quality to the work, things that are actually rooted in a kind of connectivity to nature, but at the same time they feel modern,” said Laura. Kate echoed this sentiment, “I think a lot of times when we think about ‘modern,’ it’s always about how we’re going to dress in the future, like a kind of tech version of something. And I feel like this was the opposite in terms of inspiration, but the result was something very, very new.”
Rodarte’s spring collection is a celebration of natural beauty, reinterpreted through a modern lens. The designers’ masterful use of lace, unexpected textures, and the spirit of California’s golden hour culminate in a collection that is both timeless and avant-garde.
