New York Fashion Week: Rodarte SS 2021
For the Mulleavy sisters – founders and designers of Rodarte – fashion has always been a romantic escape and, the rude impact with reality experimented lately has been quite a shock. They recovered quickly and used the lockdown period to meticulously translate and adapt their language, in order to stay true to Rodarte’s DNA but make it more suitable to current time. Satin, maxi collars and bon ton suits are still present, but the entire collection is way more wearable and adapt for the daily life.
Flowers are important, especially in the headwear, which frame models’ faces gently, but also in the clothes themselves. Geometric prints and polka dots share suits and dresses equally. Suits indeed are beautiful as usual, graceful and elegant. We liked especially the bias cut jackets, matched with pencil skirts. We liked the low waist of the midi dresses, shaping on the pelvis bones. We also liked the high heels sandals, worn with organza socks – the only organza in the entire collection.
The final mix is difficult to describe. Rib knit cuffs come from the street wear while the elegant suits are a reminiscence of the 50s. The background of the photoshoot makes us think about a strong texano-style accent, ultra feminine of course. We are very pleased to see how the refined style of Rodarte gave life to a contemporary collection, mixing together, without difficulties, old codes and taste. It makes us believe that there is still space for real beauty, and we should all commit to it if we want to navigate lighter in these times.
Cover image courtesy: Rodarte by Daria Kobayashi Ritch
