[2][3] They were raised in Northern California, growing up in Aptos, a town near Santa Cruz.
Their mother, Victoria Rodart, is an artist of Mexican-Italian ancestry, and their father, William Perry Mulleavy, is a mycologist of Irish descent.
[6] In 2001, the sisters graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and returned to their family home in Pasadena, California, where they began to work on establishing their own clothing line, waitressing and selling personal items to accrue funds.
[6] Their work was featured in a February 2005 issue of Women's Wear Daily, which caught the attention of Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who traveled to Los Angeles to meet with the sisters in person.
[6] Wintour became a public supporter of the label, featuring their work in numerous issues of Vogue.