In 2005, sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy traveled from California to New York City for the first time, their suitcases stuffed with eight handmade dresses and two coats. The self-taught designers then cold-called fashion editors from a friend’s East Village apartment and, astonishingly, landed an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, a prominent fashion industry trade publication. Two days later, the journal ran a cover story on the sisters’ bracingly original vision and their newly minted fashion label, Rodarte (an alternate spelling of their mother’s maiden name).