“Real on steroids” is how designer Julien Dossena described his fall 2024 collection for Rabanne. The cool layered lineup brought the house chain mail to the streets — almost literally, as young kids outside the Palais de Tokyo pressed their noses and camera phones against the windows to see the clothes walking the runway to a nostalgic soundtrack of Lisa Loeb and Yaz. (Remember Yaz?)
“I want intimacy and reality and just genuinely good clothes,” said the designer, inspired in part by the the brand’s collaboration with H&M last year, which sold out in 24 hours and introduced a new generation to the codes of Rabanne, both Paco’s modern metalsmithing and Julien’s goddess dresses and more casual touch.
Slouchy, comfy, warm and tender were all words he used to describe the wardrobe of individual pieces, designed to let a woman build her own character — a fabulous chain mail button down shirt with the versatility of your favorite flannel; a patchwork leather crewneck top; loud plaid pants; an oversize blanket cardigan; a crazy leopard faux fur top and scarf set; a green quilted miniskirt, or a pair of quirky-fabulous crystal embroidered tights, worn with awkward-in-a-good-way chunky brown mules or boots. It was all in the mix.
Smocked and fringed maxiskirts and dresses assembled from panels of deadstock prints had an haute bohemian thrifted look, and Dossena took the stuffing out of tailoring by showing a gravel-colored pant suit with the blazer peeled down to the waist, exposing a yellow ditzy floral lining. Leather blazers were layered over boyfriend blazers, over button-down shirts, overembroidered transparencies, clashing prints and colors. There were lots of good coats, too, including a black leather lined houndstooth car coat, and many new iterations of the fab new Paco leather disc bags, which have a ’70s feel.
Meanwhile, the glitz of last season’s rock goddesses was reduced to a bit of crystal here or there on a cardigan or skirt, or a necklace that could have been borrowed from grandma.
“It’s not polished, not bourgeois,” he said. “It’s not putting on a show. It’s how you feel confident by being yourself and being kind.” How charming.
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