| COMB |

New York Case Study: Rodarte

Rodarte’s spring ‘09 collection has become something of a litmus test in the fashion crowd. Initial internet chatter resounded positively and negatively as: WOW . . .

Fall 08 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Spring 09

AGAIN?

To some, the latest collection was a lazy rehashing of elements praised in seasons past: hemoragging color, webby stockings, grecian wrappings, loose-netted knits, accordian pleats, and sharp statement shoes.

To others, it was more streamlined, even with the addition of potentially clunky elements like leather, chains, and layered separates.

Maybe I’m not hrrumphing in the critical camp because I’m wondering if Rodarte hasn’t landed on a foundation aesthetic of great potential. I’m not sure I would be disappointed if they didn’t build upon this collection for Fall ‘09, but I’d sure be riveted if they did.

Really, last season’s Japanese anime horror theme and this season’s ode to Star Wars and skeletons aren’t that dissimilar. They both conjure futurism, fantasy, piecing, narratives rich in the paradox of good and evil, of pretty and dark, and, yes, that considerable kick of kink. Overall I found the collection a restrained evolution, and a commendable one at that.

I enjoyed how yeslets described it:

“They [the Mulleavy sisters] have an aesthetic and feeling and point of view that they are committed to, and a lot of what changes within it is subtle (colors, fabrics, shapes, trying out separates, certain details or accessories, etc). A lot of what they do seems more like something that would show in Paris and not New York. I really love this collection and I also love it in the context of their other collections. It all goes together conceptually, as a big arc.”

She brings up a fine point on the different fashion capitals and what we have come to expect from them. It’s interesting. In New York reporters tend to ask designers about “inspiration-slash-inspiration” or “the look” specific to the collection, but in Paris they want to know about direction and aim, as if they expect the same ol’ thing, but re-imagined.

Consider the following videos:

Zac Posen, Fall 2008

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/video/F2008RTW-ZPOSEN

Chanel, Fall 2008

Paris-based designers seem more inclined to develop an aesthetic or conceptual motif that they can run with from season to season. Ann Demeulmeester has literally made a career of muse Patty Smith’s dark dreaminess, and how would Rick Owens mark a garment as his own without a single drape? No one has slapped Kaiser Karl’s bejeweled hand since his reign over Chanel in the 80’s, when he first began riffing off the house’s signature chains, braiding, tweed suits, pearl necklaces, and camellias. And to speak nothing of Hermes: that playful but sophisticated orange originated during the Occupation following a paperboard shortage and hasn’t changed since.

And yet despite the city’s reverence to its history and customs, ask fashion followers to name the avant-garde fashion capital and they’ll likely answer Paris. Certainly Stockholm is gaining reputation for its offerings, London’s got the Central St. Martin’s spunk, and the likes of Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada still work their mysterious ways in Milan. But for me the torch of modernism still burns brightest in the City of Lights due to the sheer number of designers willing to search out and master a concept for several seasons before moving into new territory. In a world that increasingly favors disposable gratification, there’s a patience and intellectualism in the quiet innovators’ process that I appreciate. The process as important as the product: it’s a very Japanese approach. Maybe that’s why Yohji et al. choose to show there. I’m glad they do.

But back to Rodarte and their relevance in New York. If Vogue’s Laird Borrelli-Persson’s only real criticism about the show was that she couldn’t imagine front-row celebrities like Natalie Portman pulling them off, then I fear we are forgetting that the slow death of couture is birthing a new re-consideration of ready-to-wear. In other words, we must allow for a spectrum of wearability, and not the fact of it. Otherwise we’re hampering designers and cheating ourselves of creations that might, one day, be as ubiquitous as blue jeans.

|||| ||||| |||||||