Rodarte made conversation with it’s SS20 campaign.
A variety of high fashion brands can be seen experimenting on their campaigns by touching on subjects like diversity and gender dilemmas, celebrities and athletes.
To name a few, Calvin Klein has one of those campaigns that is easily remembered with their #InMyCalvins hashtag, followed by Marc Jacobs including all ages and Dior with their “We Should All Be Feminists” slogan with actress Jennifer Lawrence.
But when a high fashion brand incorporates current social issues into their marketing, it’s seen as a move with two faces. A smart one that will be beneficial for obvious reasons or getting placed in the industry’s black list for trying to take advantage of such controversies.
Brands have been playing with celebrities lately and the industry has mixed feelings towards it. The recent and unexpected high fashion brand has been Rodarte, founded in 2005 by two sisters, Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Rodarte was born in Los Angeles after the two sisters returned home upon graduating from college.
Commotion was caused by the way the brand launched its Spring Summer 2020 campaign. This featured a garden scenery, a tea party-like aesthetic, props like flowers and statues. By perfectly tapping in to a season’s pertaining color palettes, prints and styles it’s been able to keep that subtle glamour the Rodarte way.
Besides the love given to the ethereal backdrop, set and feel, what caused conversation was how the whole line-up was female actresses and musicians. In between these we see known or up-and-coming names like Yalitza Aparicio, Lili Reinhart, Gabrielle Union and King Princess.
Rodarte has always been known to be a brand where the mysterious, desirable and elevated live. Therefor one doesn’t see it as an element of street style or abundantly on Instagram. This high-fashion brand could be testing out new ways to remain relevant but separate from what can make it mainstream.
It is possible that Rodarte is re-shaping the approach customers have towards them, but still owning a sense of normalcy. If we take a note of the type of celebrities this campaign includes, one can see appearances that these have appeared in series or movies that have made a huge impact in film and television business.
As for the musicians, Rodarte added personalities such as King Princess — a new artist who appeals to current issues. But it could also be taking a route to feed Rodarte to a new set of customers while avoiding social media and influencers.
Opinions vary when it comes to celebrities being featured on brand’s marketing. Fourth-year fashion student Elizabeth Frances said, “I think using the right celebrities on campaigns help convey better and idea of who would wear the garment and what they’d be doing in the clothes. I think someone like Kanye West campaigns brilliantly by getting Kim Kardashian to wear his Yeezy collection while she is out running errands. I’ve never personally liked the collections but it’s admirable that he thought that next step through.”
Putting aside the speculations, fans of the fashion, music and television spectrum have noticed the brand’s presence and acknowledged the mastery of joining these crafts together.
