The National Museum of Women Artists (NMWA) in Washington DC is hosting a fashion show for the first time and is doing so in a big way, hosting the meticulous work of Rodarte. Thus, with the title ‘Rodarte’, the exhibition explores the universe of the famous American luxury fashion house, founded just 13 years ago by the sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy . The exhibition reveals the visionary concepts of the designers, their impeccable craftsmanship and their impact on the fashion industry. Taking into account that currently only 14% of the big fashion companies are headed by women, this exhibition, located in a museum dedicated to women’s art is a declaration of intentions.

Specifically ‘Rodarte’ explores the distinctive features of its design, creative design and the recurring themes and inspirations that position the work of the Mulleavy sisters within art and contemporary fashion. It is not a retrospective view, something the curators of the exhibition themselves have made clear from the outset, as the company is very young and its founders are under forty, but rather an approach to the imagination of Rodarte starting from the different elements that make up its identity. These traits are revealed via the 94 complete looks that form part of the 12 seasons presented by the Californian company. In addition the dancer costumes that the Mulleavy sisters created for the film ‘Black Swan ‘ by Darren Aronofsky have also been included, as well as the costumes from his first film ‘ Woodshock ‘. These garments distill the concept of modern femininity that is the essence of Rodarte , together with other influences such as their passion for nature and humanity. It is a perfect blend of strength and delicacy that is also seen in the wide variety of fabrics used, combined with meticulous haute couture techniques. It is not for nothing that Rodarte is one of the companies that has received the most accolades in the world of art and fashion since its inception in 2005.

The exhibition ‘Rodarte’ will be open to the public until February 10.

Fashion conceived as art

Rodarte was founded in 2005 in Los Angeles (California), fruit of the imagination and creativity of Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Graduates in art history and literature , the sisters lacked a specialized training in fashion design when they started, but they had audacity, intuition and an exquisite taste for technique, craftsmanship and detail. With these talents they conquered the industry immediately. In this brief career of thirteen years Rodarte has won dozens of awards since its first parade and institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute have acquired some of the company’s creations. Their garments, between post-apocalyptic and dreamlike, seek that duality inherent in beauty, between dark and luminous, with multiple references that cover recurrent themes such as cinema, art and nature.

Rodarte made its debut in 2005 at the Fashion Week in New York with a resounding success and after presenting the latest collections in Paris, this year they have decided to return to the Big Apple, the city where they claimed their first triumph . It is a return that coincides with this exhibition in Washington of one of the luxury brands with the most international exposure in the current fashion industry.