Rodarte

Kate and Laura Mulleavy
RODARTE

Rodarte was founded in Los Angeles, California in 2005 by Kate and Laura Mulleavy.
Kate and Laura received their liberal arts degrees from the University of California at Berkeley in 2001. Kate studied art history with an emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Kate and Laura were raised in Northern California.
Following their graduation from Berkeley, both Kate and Laura returned to Los Angeles where they launched their brand Rodarte. The name “Rodarte” is of Spanish origin, taken from Kate and Laura’s mother’s maiden name.
Rodarte is stocked globally by the world’s premiere retailers including Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Browns, Colette, Ikram, Nordstrom, Jeffrey, Opening Ceremony, The Room, and theCorner.com.
International icons including Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Keira Knightley, Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Obama, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Elle Fanning, Saoirse Ronan, Maggie Cheung and Reese Witherspoon have worn Rodarte.
Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s design and costume work have been featured in solo exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (2010) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2011). Rodarte is included in the permanent collections of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum at FIT in New York.
For the New York Times Magazine 2010 Winter Olympic portfolio, Rodarte collaborated with Ryan McGinley on custom designed knitwear for Olympic athletes.
Kate and Laura designed and created the ballet costumes for the Academy Award winning film, Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, receiving a Critics Choice nomination for their work.

Career Timeline

2005
The first Rodarte collection, comprised of 10 hand-finished pieces, appears on the February 3rd, 2005 cover of Women’s Wear Daily within days of Kate and Laura’s first trip to New York. Shortly thereafter, in September 2005, Rodarte presents its first complete runway collection to accolades during New York Fashion Week.
In Fall 2005, Rodarte is awarded the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award and the line gains support from key retailers including Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Colette, Ikram and Neiman Marcus.

2006
Rodarte is nominated for its first CFDA Swarovski Emerging Womenswear Designer award in June 2006, followed by another nomination in 2007.
In Fall 2006, Rodarte is awarded runner-up in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition following their critically acclaimed Spring 2007 collection and another WWD cover story. Gucci Group Senior Vice President, James McArthur, becomes a mentor to Rodarte as a part of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award.

2007
Rodarte’s white shirt designs, in collaboration with the Gap, appear on the cover of Vogue in May 2007. Rodarte becomes a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

2008
Rodarte’s Fall 2008 collection, presented in February 2008, is named Top 10 by Style.com, New York Times and Women’s Wear Daily. Soon after, the Metropolitan Musuem of Art’s Costume Institute acquires its first Rodarte gown into the permanent collection and features the gown in its Blog.Mode exhibition in April 2008.
In Summer 2008, Rodarte is selected a finalist in the ANDAM competition.
Rodarte is awarded the CFDA Swarovski Emerging Womenswear Designer award in June 2008.
Rachel Weisz appears on the cover of American Vogue’s October 2008 issue wearing Rodarte.

2009
Rodarte’s Spring 2009 collection, presented in September 2008, is named Top 10 by Women’s Wear Daily Collections and Vogue.com.
Rodarte is awarded the Swiss Textiles Award in November 2008, becoming the first American designers and the first women to receive the award.
Rodarte’s Fall 2009 collection, presented in February 2009, is named Top 10 by Vogue.com.
Rodarte is Cooper Hewitt’s 2009 National Design Awards Fashion Design Finalist.
Rodarte is featured on the cover of the May 2009 issue of Vogue.
Rodarte is awarded the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year Award in June 2009.
Rodarte’s Spring 2010 collection, presented in September 2009, is named Top by 10 by Vogue.com and Style.com.
Rodarte for Target launches in December 2009 at 1000 Target stores nationwide with a national ad campaign.
Kate and Laura are one of the 50 recipients to win the 2009 United States Artists Fellowship.

2010
Rodarte collaborates with Todd Cole a short film entitled “Aanteni”, featuring Guinevere van Seenus and scored by NO AGE.
Rodarte has their first solo-exhibition, Quicktake: Rodarte, at the Cooper-Hewitt in February 2010 and are the first fashion designers in 20 years to be reviewed in Artforum.
Rodarte’s Fall 2010 collection, presented in February 2010, is named Top 10 by Vogue.com.
Rodarte designs limited edition posters and t-shirts for the 50th anniversary re-release of Breathless by Jean Luc Godard.
Rodarte is awarded the Cooper Hewitt 2010 National Design Award for fashion.
Kate and Laura are awarded a National Arts Award from Americans for the Arts, becoming the first fashion designers to receive the honor.
Rodarte collaborates with Brody Condon for a performance piece in PS1 MOVE! exhibition.
Vogue names Rodarte a Top 10 collection, this time for their Spring 2011 collection.
Rodarte designs ballet costumes for the Het National Ballet, which premieres on October 15, 2010 in Amsterdam. The ballet is choreographed by Benjamin Millepied and scored by Nico Muhly.
Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, premieres at the Venice Film Festival with Portman wearing in a custom design by Rodarte to the gala event.
Kate and Laura guest edit Lula #11, which features Charlotte Gainsbourg on the cover in Rodarte photographed by Nan Goldin.
Rodarte’s Spring 2011 collection is voted “Best in Shows” in Wallpaper’s 2011 Design Awards.
Kate and Laura are nominated at 16th Annual Broadcast Film Critics Awards in the Costume Design category for their work in Black Swan.

2011
Rodarte collaborates with Todd Cole a short film entitled “The Curve of Forgotten Things”, featuring Elle Fanning and scored by Deerhunter.
Rodarte for Opening Ceremony Spring/Summer 2011 collection of women’s ready-to-wear, accessories and menswear launches in retailers worldwide in February.
Rodarte’s first west coast exhibition, Rodarte: States of Matter opens in March at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Rodarte’s collaboration with artist Brody Condon is reinterpreted, performed and acquired at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The first Rodarte monograph, Rodarte, Catherine Opie, Alec Soth, is published by JRP Ringier.
Kate and Laura were the guest designers at Pitti Uomo 80 + Pitti W8. On Thursday, June 16, 2011 Rodarte unveiled a site-specific installation in Florence showcasing ten new couture pieces created exclusively on the occasion of the 8th edition of Pitti W. [remove some of the original text for this post]
Rodarte x Opening Ceremony Fall 2011 collection of women’s ready-to-wear, accessories and menswear launches in retailers worldwide in September.
Rodarte’s designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy speak at the New York Public Library with Catherine Opie along side the release of their monograph in September 2011.
Rodarte guest designs the Fall 2011 Zoetrope All-Story, a quarterly magazine of art & short fiction, founded by Francis Ford Coppola in 1997.
In November 2011, Rodarte wins the 2011 Fashion Group International’s Star Honoree Award.
Rodarte guest curates issue #11 of A Magazine and features Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, David Armstrong, Bill Owens, Joss Whedon and John Baldessari.
Rodarte’s Fra Angelico Collection goes on display (December 2011- February 2012) in the Renaissance Art Room of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it is also to be held in the permanent collection afterwards.

Awards and Nominations:
1. 2006 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award Winner
2. 2006 CFDA Swarovski Womenswear Designer of the Year Nomination
3. 2006 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Runner Up
4. 2007 CFDA Swarovski Womenswear Designer of the Year Nomination
5. 2008 CFDA Swarovski Womenswear Designer of the Year Award Winner
6. 2008 Swiss Textiles Award Winner
7. 2009 CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year Award Winner
8. 2009 United States Artists Fellowships Recipient
9. 2009 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards, Runner up
10. 2010 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards, Award Winner
11. 2010 National Art Award from Americans for the Arts, Award Winner
12. 2011 Fashion Group International’s Star Honoree Award