Alicia Silverstone Stars in “Totally Important” Lookbook for Rodarte

For many fashion obsessives, Clueless remains a singularly poignant cultural touchstone. The 1995 comedy shouted out a few “totally important designers,” like Calvin Klein and Azzedine Alaïa, but the real style magic was happening as Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), Dionne Davenport (Stacey Dash), and Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy) strutted their looks through the halls of Bronson Alcott High School. Those plaid skirt suits are still iconic, and for Fall 2021, Rodarte took inspiration straight from Cher’s computerized closet — and Silverstone herself, who stars in the brand’s collection.

In the photos, Silverstone is modeling a look that could have caught Cher’s eye in a mall window. It’s a cropped green jacket with black piping and oversized pearl buttons but done with Rodarte’s love of dazzling sequins. Behind her, two models wear more sequined pieces, including a silver bodycon dress and a black athletic suit that Cher would definitely have sported during P.E.

Remember Cher’s impassioned speech about the federal government’s response to Haitian refugees? As she’s brilliantly solving a humanitarian crisis, she explains that she once threw a garden party for her dad’s birthday — and Silverstone is also modeling the dress that Cher would have worn as she was “totally buggin’” to accommodate unexpected guests. It’s the ultimate pink power dress that firmly declares “it does not say ‘RSVP’ on the Statue of Liberty.”

Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte told Vogue they watched Amy Heckerling’s movie “hundreds” of times, renting it from a video store back when people had to watch movies on black plastic boxes called VHS tapes. And while there’s plenty of fanciful references to the 90s SoCal heyday, there’s plenty of modern touches, including a diverse cast and floral print stretch pants — for the pandemic survivor who still can’t be bothered to put on complicated clothes.