Daily Front Row

2010 March 25

Rodarte for Revillon?

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Laura Mulleavy, Kate Mulleavy
DAVID X PRUTTING/PatrickMcMullan.com View Gallery

(PARIS) It appears that Revillon has found a new designer. Two, in fact---young, talented, and in need of a well-paying gig. Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy are in contract negotiations with the French fur company owned by Yves Salomon, The Daily has learned. Revillon, which was most recently designed by Peter Dundas, opted not to show in Paris last month due to the lack of a designer. The Mulleavys are expected to show their first collection in July during the couture season, according to the source close to the duo. "It's still a huge secret," The Daily's source says. "But the higher-ups at Revillon started pitching it to retailers during Paris Fashion Week."

This would be a significant move for the 2009 CFDA Womenswear Designers of the Year. Not only would it mark the sisters' first in-house design position, it is also their first foray into a vast reserve of European legacy brands looking for fresh new talent to entice both press and buyers. Rodarte designed a high street line for Target in 2009, but the production of their main collection has remained limited to around 1,000 pieces a year, selling to chic enclaves such as Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Colette, and Ikram. Their Fall 2009 thigh-high bondage boots, produced with Nicholas Kirkwood, have become best-sellers.

This is not the first time a European house has shown interest in the 29 and 31-year old Laura and Kate, respectively, who still live with their parents in Pasadena. LVMH's North American president Renaud Duteil was spotted front-row at their Spring 2010 collection, fueling rumors that the Bernard Arnault-helmed conglomerate was considering purchasing a stake.

The Mulleavys' earnings from Revillon will surely help to boost the bottom line of the Rodarte enterprise. In fact, they will be the second Californians to design exquisite furs for this French house, originally established in 1723 as Revillon Frères. Rick Owens, a native of Porterville, designed the collection from 2003 to 2006, after the company was acquired by Salomon. Since then, while Dundas was creating branded Revillon collections, the house also produced private label furs for Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar de la Renta, Sonia Kykiel, and Paule Ka.

Despite the intensifying rumors, Brian Phillips, a longtime rep for Rodarte, denys all---pour l'instant. "Rodarte is not designing for Revillon," he wrote in an email message. Bien sûr---not until the contractual ink is dry. Expect an official announcment in May.
ASHLEY BAKER and VALENTINE UHOVSKI