New York Fashion Week S/S 2011: Womenswear Collections

Rodarte

Rodarte gave us a lesson in how to do home-spun vintage and futuristic at the same time. Ignoble offerings like blown up lumberjack plaids, folk prints and plain jerseys were given a miraculous boost by inventive layers and patched-together pieces. Many of these featured intricate curved hems, car-wash flaps and long, slim peplums. The Mulleavy sisters are masters at fabric manipulations and this season played with increasingly tactile materials, like heavily embroidered leaf tops that slowly morphed into draped silk bottoms or china-pattern blues. To comprehend the extent of their craftsmanship, consider for a moment the mix of this one magnificent dress: intricately stencilled leather flaps affixed to a pebbly crocodile base and a chiffon bodice printed with the veins of a giant redwood. It was magic.

What would Wallpaper* do with this collection? Frankly, the possibilities are endless. We'd start by dusting our collection of Delft china decked in the blue and white fauna print hostess dress with double peplum and sheer black underskirt. And end by scaling the Colosseum in one of the gilded gladiator dresses - preferably the short, sexy one with giant gold stitching.