Reactions to the Rodarte show, held in New York earlier this week, were almost the same as the reactions to last season's, which is not a good thing. The inner circle of fans loved it, while others expressed puzzlement: why don't the Mulleavy sisters try something new? And when will they get serious about making wearable clothes? Rodarte certainly loves doing innovative things to textiles, but they don't seem to be interested in placating their critics.
Rodarte is a tiny company. Because it's privately held, outsiders can only guess at what is going on the inside, but here's what we know: last year, they sold about 1,000 pieces (according to a recent profile in the New Yorker). Given how expensive their clothes are, they might have retail sales of a few million a year. With a business that size, what you get is a studio, a few employees and some bolts of cloth, which is what they have. So despite being a five year old business and having gotten scads of free press, they're still in the almost-broke start-up phase.
What if they don't plan to grow anymore? Rodarte's product is extremely niche, accessible only to a few: you're either buying sweaters that cost $2,000, or you're not buying anything. No diffusion lines and no licenses, except for their ugly collaboration with Target. It could be a fine strategy, but it could also be fiscally dangerous. Furthermore, you have to wonder what will happen to them once the press loses interest. This is a real possibility, given how monotonous their vision has become.
What would happen if the Mulleavy sisters woke up one morning to find they've been forgotten? Would their clients keep buying? It's impossible to say, but Rodarte got lucky with the press from day one, and it's hard to see how they could survive without it. If worst came to worst, they could always start selling on Etsy.
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