How Miranda July Got Rodarte to Send E-Mails to Strangers

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Miranda July, the filmmaker, performance artist, artist artist, and writer, has embarked on a project called "We Think Alone," which brings her friends' old e-mails into your inbox. If you're all, "More [curse word of choice] e-mails? No thanks," consider that the project allows you to voyeuristically peek into the daily happenings of Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Lena Dunaham, Kirsten Dunst, among so many others.

July recently spoke to Style.com about the process, saying, "I made a list of 20 different kinds of e-mails—an e-mail about money, an angry e-mail, one to your mom. Then I sent the list to 10 different notable people whom I admire." Anyone can sign up here to receive ten of these private, previously written and sent e-mails with no context every Monday through November 11.

Explaining "We Think Alone" in the project's press release, July noted, "I'm always trying to get my friends to forward me emails they've sent to other people—to their mom, their boyfriend, their agent—the more mundane the better. How they comport themselves in email is so intimate, almost obscene—a glimpse of them from their own point of view."

For an idea of how it's working out, Dunham tweeted on July 1, "Today: the first installment of @Miranda_July's #wethinkalone. I have never felt more raw than sharing an email about my finances." But that's Dunham, chronic over-sharer. How did July get the very private Rodarte girls on board?

July told WWD that Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who, recall, made July's wedding dress in 2009, "are quite private. Even though I have known them for a long time, there are still huge gaps about what I know. I felt almost rude asking them but they were so game on a friendship level."

And here's what to expect when you sign up to receive the e-mails here: "Anyone who knows them will know how very 'them' their choices were. But people who don't know them won't get to know them much better. But their sense of humor really comes through."
· Mulleavy Sisters Sign On for Miranda July's 'We Think Alone' [WWD]
· Gwyneth Paltrow Is a Fan of Rodarte's Tie-Dye Evening Gowns [Racked]