Kate and Laura Mulleavy

I think I fall a little further in love with “twisted sisters” Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte with each interview I read. Their recent dialogue with the New Yorker served up some delectable sound bytes (and revulsion, but I’ll get to that later).

“The most unhappy Laura and I have ever been was when we heard that we made ‘a pretty dress.’ We want to make people think, and, once you decide to do that, you will have people that won’t like what you’re doing.”

Primarily self-taught, the Mulleavy sisters’ many varied inspirational touchstones invariably herald the proclamation, “Weird girls make good!” Their fall 2008 line was inspired by Japanese horror films and “the textiles were meant to look as though they were bleeding or ‘covering a seeping wound.’” Their first collection was funded by the sale of rare Velvet Underground and X LPs (um, pretty cool!). They take pleasure in burning sea foam green polyester just to smell the toxins and took their sweet time leaving the comfort of their parents’ suburban Pasadena nest. These ladies are at once bizarre, conjoined and cool as shit.

I’ve become increasingly enamored (and totally identify) with these ladies. However, there was a sour note to this celebration of doing it your own way, against all odds: the author’s constant mention of the Mulleavys’ (non-twig) weight and the fact that they “can’t wear their own designs.” This is compounded by the hoopla over Kate and Laura’s affinity for monochromatic sweatshirts, shapeless tunics and general “goober factor.” (What?!)

The assumption that designers must be sandwich boards for their work seems a shortsighted double standard that nary applies to the many male designers creating clothing for, um, women. Is this seriously an issue? Their designs are works of (wearable) art, but are they truly meant to be worn by anyone? I’d sooner hang one of their glorious blood-splattered knits on the wall then attempt to wear it while eating ribs. (This is my usual stress test for a new piece of clothing. Now you know.)

I’m sure you’ve also heard about Anna Wintour’s obsession with the sisters…and her subsequent mean girl treatment, masked as “dietary project.” I’m disappointed that Kate and Laura’s visionary nature and unorthodox approach to a rigid industry couldn’t be appreciated without the superficial aspects of weight. Gross.

In the meantime, I want to hang at their studio and catalogue the many varied colors of fume that result from fabric incineration. Keep it weird, Rodarte! I can’t wait to see what you’ll burn // embroider // envision next.

[Images via NY Mag]