Rodarte

In 2002 after leaving college, the Mulleavy sisters returned home to Aptos, California, where they spent the intervening years saving up US$16,500 in order to create a capsule collection, with Laura working as a waitress and Kate selling off a collection of rare records. The label Rodarte is the original Spanish pronunciation and spelling of their mother's maiden name, Rodart.

After their initial collection of just ten pieces (which included seven dresses and two coats), the Mulleavys traveled to New York City and appeared on the cover of a February 2005 issue of Women's Wear Daily. This led to their meeting with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who personally flew to Los Angeles to meet the sisters.

The Mulleavy sisters garnered notoriety early on for their meticulous approach to clothing, with one chiffon dress from their 2006 collection taking over 150 hours to complete. In the spring of 2007, the label released a line of limited-edition exclusive shirts in collaboration with Gap. In December 2009, the label released another separate line of limited-edition pieces in collaboration with Target.

In the fall of 2010, the label decided to collaborate with MAC Cosmetics to release a limited edition line of makeup based on the Fall 2010 collection. The line received heavy criticism due to the inspiration from the city of Ciudad Juárez, which is known for women’s sexual assault cases. Because of this, MAC and Rodarte released an apology, and donated $100,000 to "a nonprofit organization that has a proven, successful track record helping women in need and that can directly improve the lives of women in Juarez in a meaningful way.".