Los Angeles fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, founders of the Rodarte label, are turning their attention to filmmaking.

The sisters are set to make their feature directorial debut with Woodshock, starring longtime friend Kirsten Dunst. Plot details are being kept under tight wraps, but the storyline is described as an original concept derived from a screenplay written by the duo that’s been in development for several years.

Ken Kao’s Waypoint Entertainment, which will be in Cannes this year with Gus Van Sant’s The Sea of Trees, is financing and producing Woodshock alongside Ben LeClair and Michael Costigan of Cota Films.

In a big show of confidence, A24 — known for turning out hip and edgy fare, including current box office hit Ex Machina — has preemptively scooped up theatrical U.S. rights to Woodshock. WME Global brokered the deal.

Bloom, the sales company founded by Kao and Alex Walton, will launch the project to foreign buyers at the Cannes Film Market.

Laura and Kate Mulleavy founded the Los Angeles-based Rodarte label in 2005, and have developed a cult-like following among younger Hollywood actresses, including Dunst, Natalie Portman and the Fanning sisters. They aren’t strangers to the film business, having worked as costume designers on Black Swan, the 2010 movie earning Portman an Oscar for best actress.

Those who are close to the pair say they’ve always had a desire to direct.

Kate and Laura Mulleavy are represented by WME; Dunst is represented by UTA and Management 360.

Pamela McClintock; hollywoodreporter.com

Wow this is very interesting, and a complete (wood)shock! My initial thought when I first read this was it’s going to be a short film but it does sound like it’s going to be a full length feature. Could this be one of the two projects Kirsten mentioned in an interview early last year?