Rodarte: Balletcore and the fairy dream of the celebrities
About Rodarte
The founding of the Rodarte fashion label was already some time ago. The brand was founded in 2005 by siblings Kate and Laura Mulleavy. After their graduation, the two returned to Passadena, California in 2001. At the University of Berkeley, Kate studied history and Laura literature. Everything they know about fashion and tailoring, the two taught themselves. Learning-by-doing was their guiding principle. They even took apart a Chanel dress to see how it was made and sewn together.
With little financial resources, Kate and Laura designed their first collection, which caught the attention of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and paved the way for the sisters to enter the luxury fashion industry. The first collection, which consisted of only 10 garments, even made it to New York Fashion Week and was featured on the cover of "Women's Wear Daily".
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Early in their career, the two became members of the “Council of Fashion Designers in America”. Kate and Laura also cooperated with the brand GAP in 2007 and made it onto the cover of US Vogue with this collection. Awards such as the "Vogue Fashion Fund Award", the "Swarovski Emerging Womenswear Designer Award" and many more were won by the two within a few years of founding Rodarte. The rapid success of the luxury brand was also honoured by museums such as the “Metropolitan Museum of Art” and the “National Museum of Women in the Arts”, where Kate and Laura's costumes were included in individual exhibitions and sometimes in their permanent collections. The sisters' vocation today includes not only costume design, but the two are also active as writers and directors.
In addition to Rodarte, Kate and Laura founded their associated second brand Radarte in 2008. The name is derived from their Californian origins through "rad". Radarte is the casual clothing brand of the two sisters. They mainly offer graphic T-shirts and sweatshirts. Cosy and cool loungewear in contrast to the fairy-like luxury dresses known from Rodarte.
The style in which Kate and Laura design clothes is consistently romantic, feminine and sensual. When choosing their fabrics, the sisters come up with a wide variety of things. Materials are often processed, dyed, burnt or stretched several times before they continue working with them. The processing is very elaborate and you can see that in many of the collections. The two want to tell stories through their collections and are inspired by landscapes, art, culture, film, poetry and music. Pastel colours adorn dresses made of silk. Tulle and chiffon in large quantities as well as lace can be found in most of Rodarte's costumes. Soft and playful cuts, with glitter and flowers complete the princess look. However, Kate and Laura can not only do playful fairy dresses, but also showed straight and more elegant cuts in the Spring 2022 runway show, mainly kept in black and white.
Balletcore
Ballet already has a long tradition and is mainly associated with femininity and discipline. The ballet scene has always been closely linked to the fashion industry. Balletcore is celebrated on all social media platforms, especially on TikTok, and is characterised by classic ballet clothing. The trend is made up of increasingly tight cuts and the athleisure hype. The athleisure trend has already arrived in street style several years ago. Clothes that are actually meant for sports are transformed into everyday wear and casual chic. Leggings, sweatpants and sweatshirts are the most common versions of the athleisure movement. Balletcore is also meant to be cosy and comfortable to wear, like Athleisure, but with more sensuality.
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Whether pompous tutus, tulle skirts, bodysuits, cuffs or legwarmers, ballerinas, hairbands, frilly dresses, lace tops, wrap skirts or wrap tops. Everything that belongs to ballet clothing is taken up in Balletcore. Neutral and pastel colours, especially pink, black, white and beige, set the tone here. Whether you wear just one piece in balletcore style or go all-in with the prima ballerina look is up to you. Either way, every outfit becomes an instant eye-catcher.
Balletcore leaves a lot of room for interpretation and, depending on the intention, can be worn very professionally as a business look but also be very sexy. In contrast to classical ballet, balletcore allows everyone an aesthetic appearance. Balletcore is meant to encourage people to feel comfortable in their own bodies. As a political statement, balletcore today stands for breaking down gender roles and sexist double standards. The colour pink, tulle and tutus are no longer just for the skinny white ballerina, but for everyone, regardless of gender, skin colour, origin, sexual orientation or dress size.
That Kate and Laura drew strong inspiration from the ballet scene was already clear when they made the ballet dresses for leading actress Natalie Portman for the 2010 thriller "Black Swan". No one better than the Mulleavy sisters could have designed the costumes for this ballet horror film. The original dresses from the film were even exhibited at the “Museum of Contemporary Art of Los Angeles”.
Kate and Laura's style heavily inspired by the dance scene since day one. But especially the current Fall 2022 collection by Rodarte is influenced by ballet. The enchanting Rodarte collections are portrayed by women who inspire Kate and Laura. Many of them are well-known actresses from Netflix's own productions. "Riverdale" stars Lili Reinhardt and Camila Mendes. "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" lead actress Kierna Shipka. "Unbelievable" actress Kaitlyn Dever. Lana Condor stars in the film series "To All The Boys I've Loved Before." And Joey King from the film series "The Kissing Booth." But also singer Chalri XCX or actress Olive Gray portray the new collection in balletcore style.
Celebrities in Rodarte
Florence Welch, the singer of the English indie band "Florence and the Machine", is being dressed by Rodarte for the release of her new album "Dance Fever". Already in music videos as well as in first live performances the singer wears clothes made for her by Rodarte.
Actress Kirsten Dunst announced both her pregnancies in looks by Rodarte. Kirsten Dunst is not only Kate and Laura's friend and inspiration, but also stars in their first film "Woodshock". The actress often wore Rodarte for red carpet appearances and the Met Gala.
Singer and actress Lady Gaga is also a long-time Rodarte fan. Several individual costumes have already been made for her. Nevertheless, she is also seen wearing garments from Rodarte's runway collections.
Model Kendall Jenner shows off in a pink silk dress by Rodarte on Easter Sunday. The same floral dress was also worn by singer Selena Gomez in her music video "De Una Vez".
And the countless fans of the luxury fashion brand still include celebs like Lorde, Elle Fanning, Anna Taylor-Joy, Sydney Sweeney, Natalia Dyer, Maudea Patow and sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey.
