Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy on Designing That Iconic Mushroom Dress
Kate Mulleavy: The moment that Laura pinned it, and then in the fitting the model walked, and we could see it balloon. A lot of people said, "Oh, you got so lucky
with the wind." I say, "Yes, we did." The truth is that dress will balloon whoever puts it on when you walk—as long as your walk gets a little bit fast-paced—it's going to do that big shape.
I knew in the moment where I saw the shape with the actual mushrooms drawn by our mom, it all came together. In my mind, I said, "Well, this is going to be a special dress." There was something about the simplicity that the design could mirror the organism. I would say as a designer, that's something that rarely happens, where I feel like there's this really interesting, cohesive, creative connection that can happen between the silhouette, the design, the pattern, the inspiration, the print.
I felt in a way it all aligned, and I knew it was special.