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Maybe it’s the effect that tie-dye has on the 80s generation, or perhaps it was just the awesomeness of it all, but even though the Rodarte AW13 collection was inspired by the Californian childhoods of Kate and Laura Mulleavy, it felt unusually evocative – even to a Londoner. “It was a really kind of personal inspiration,” Kate told i-D backstage. “It was inspired by Santa Cruz where we grew up in Northern California, and it’s really about the beach and the various things there. For me it’s hard to, like, distil it as more than an interpretation of a memory of a place. But I think if you’re from—like, a lot of my friends here who are from California knew right away, but it’s hard to explain.” And yet, thanks in no small part to American youth TV, Californian style and lifestyle are so eagerly depicted around the globe that the Rodarte collection felt universally nostalgic. Cut-outs, board shorts and flouncy skirts – which by no means looked like the images those words bring to mind – epitomised the beach-based Californian wardrobe, while oversized trench coats recalled the classic childhood idea of wearing clothes that were too big for you. But it was the tie-dye segment halfway through the show, which really cemented the feeling of the Rodarte generation’s high school wonder years. “It’s an interesting thing because it’s so personal,” Kate said backstage and panned over the fashion press and their voice recorders. “We have to go on a group field trip!”
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photography: Mitchell Sams
