Who doesn’t love a nice green beer or four leaf clover cookie on St. Patrick’s Day? I know I certainly do and with (almost) everyone in the MyFDB office rockin’ a shade of green, I wanted to pull up a playful editorial in honor of today’s Irish holiday. This “It’s Not Easy Being Green” shoot from Dazed & Confused features clothing from design duo Rodarte with styling from Katie Shillingford and photography by Viviane Sassen.

The editorial follows around a morbidly green model, who is a fabulously fashionable version of Frankenstein. Adorned with green paint, the model’s appearance is meant to reflect the Rodarte sister’s love of horror films. With many of their pieces being shredded with amazing draping and attention to detail, it’s easy to see the scary movie influence. Psst…if you’re in Los Angeles you can see their work with your own eyes at their MOCA exhibit.

View this “It’s Not Easy Being Green” editorial in its entirety on MyFDB and have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Professional Credits:

On top of the extraordinary acting, intense thrilling suspense and stunning vision and direction by Darren Aronofsky, everyone who saw Black Swan was also abuzz with the detail and beauty of the costumes created by California based designers, Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte. When the costumes from the film went on display, team MyFDB excitedly headed to the MOCA at the Pacific Design Center for the “Rodarte: States of Matter” exhibit to see the work first hand. On display are more than 20 pieces from Rodarte’s Spring 2010, Fall 2010, and Fall 2008 runway collections, and original Black Swan ballet costumes. MOCA said of the garments, “fabrics are often subjected to unusual, sometimes alchemical methods of alteration—dyed, stretched, stained, burned, or otherwise manipulated—before being reassembled as sculptural ready-to-wear.”

Upon entering the first room of the exhibit we greeted by almost complete darkness (can you say eerie?), as we made our way through a walkway where the looks for the Black Swan role were on display. The costumes, drenched in Swarovski, crystals swung around and sparkled as spotlights hit them. We made our way upstairs to the second room where costumes were shadowed by kinetic lights styled by fashion designer and runway producer, Alexandre de Betak. The White collection (which was not in the film, but very well could have been) consisted of longer sheer pieces in creams and whites with lots of stretched and draped sheerness with heavy knitting at the shoulders. The White Swan ballerina costumes were beyond stunning to the eye and in true Rodarte fashion, the attention to detail was fascinating. Corsets made of light blue vinyl (that appeared almost leather like) were hand stitched as feathers, crystals and other beading covered the tutus.

Like the first time I saw Nina (Natalie Portman)’s death in the film, I was filled with anxiety and excitement as her blood stained costume hung almost hauntingly. However, what really drew me in were the blood-like stained gowns which were simple draped pieces of fabric pieced with red and white floral fabric underneath with a lining of red sequins. The gowns managed to be delicately harsh and dramatic all at the same time. It was Rodarte’s intricacy and immediate detail which caught my eye, as the zipper to the gown was lined in red, white, and gold crystals! If there ever was a perfect touch to a gown, that would have had to been it!

The costumes like the film were an experience of distinguished beauty. It was interesting that the display itself told the story of Black Swan- but almost 

Rodarte “States of Matter” exhibit
MOCA at The Pacific Design Center
Now – June 5
8687 Melrose Avenue #G102
West Hollywood, CA 90060
[images courtesy of MOCA by Autumn de Wilde]

Unfortunately now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the sisters are not eligible for any sort of Oscar nomination because it was costume Amy Wescott who recieved the “costumes by” front credit as the Mulleavys didn’t negotiate a credit as part of their deal in the film! Additionally, at the time they were not members of the Costume Designers Guild (and only members are eligible for nominations). The sisters have since joined leaving us with a few questions?! What will the Mulleavys work on next (maybe the new Catwoman with Anne Hathaway?) and more importantly, if Amy Wescott gets nominated and wins, will she bring the Mulleavys up on stage with her?! We SURE hope so!

The Mulleavy sisters have taken on new roles as costume designers for the ballet-meets-suspense film, Black Swan with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the dark ballet centers around Nina (Portman), a lead prima ballerina who gets competitive when a new dancer Lily (Kunis) comes into the picture. Lily and Nina end up having a very twisted friendship bringing out the darker and reckless side of Nina.

One of the highlights of this film, aside from the feisty rivalries, are the fashions! Laura and Kate Mulleavy created beautiful and dark costumes for movie’s performance of Swan Lake. The duo also made various knit pieces worn by Portman, including gray leotards, legwarmers, shawls, and even arm warmers. The fitted comfort of their knits, along with the silk, tulle and chiffon ballet pieces makes me wish there was some kind of fashion collection releasing alongside the film. Black Swan for Target anyone?

If you’ve been under a rock and haven’t heard about the film, you can watch the trailer below.

[via WWD]

Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the founders and designers of Rodarte are featured in a beautiful editorial shot by Autumn de Wilde for Bon. Rightfully titled “Pasadena Poppies” the sisters lay among the poppies and dish on their label, inspirations and their hometown of Pasadena. The editorial is as whimsical and beautiful as their label!

You can peep the rest of the editorial at MyFDB.

Almost everyone knows about this pint-sized fashion blogger, but how exactly did Tavi Gevinson go from a blogger to mingling with designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Yohji Yamamoto? Apparently her site was originally thought to be a fake created by fashion insiders due to her lengthy analysis of trends and designs. Seven months after Gevinson launched her blog the Muleavy sisters of Rodarte contacted her; and she has since played a muse-like role for the brand. Gevinson can be spotted at fashion events around the globe and was basically a celebrity at NYFW, where she’s typically seated front row. The underage lady had her father chaperon her around the big city as she ventured from show to show.

Tavi recently wrote about her NYFW experience for The POP where she said, “For one week I was in a utopia full of people who can recognize that my jacket is Luella and appreciate that I stuck an upside-down doll in its chest pocket.” Asked earlier whether her classmates read her blog, she said no. Asked whether they understood her style, she admitted: “A lot of them don’t get it, but some do.”

We’ll be keeping our eyes on this teen fashion phenomenon as she continues to grow. It’ll be interesting to see if her perspective changes as she ages and experiences new things in life. For now she has an innocent and wise take that’s got the whole industry fixated on her blog, Style Rookie.

[via Guardian UK]