Anyone considering dipping a toe into the burgeoning trend for texture mash-ups should probably stop it about now. Because with their SS13 show, Rodarte showed that they owned it.
The Mulleavy sisters are designers and mavericks, doing what they do with a kind of unfettered inventiveness and, sometimes, downright craziness. Nobody else does anything like them. In fact, nobody else even likes the odd things they do, such as patchwork and quilting.
Its nearly impossible to do justice to this collection with words. Though they claimed to be inspired by a medieval fantasy world, its nearly impossible to see much of that in the collection either, barring a couple of long dresses with embellished corset detailing at their waists.
So, some things that also featured: fringed leather, laced leather, patchwork leather, heavy metal embellishment, sheeny shiny fabrics, beading, embroidery. There was more. Much, much more.
If it were possible to take anything away from this sensory overload, it would mostly be a sense of awe. Rodarte are not at all like other designers. And this was not an ordinary collection.
