Paco Rabanne: repacking Paco

Now that’s what we call respecting a brand’s DNA. From its birth the house of Paco Rabanne was based on a certain vision of the future, one based on novel materials, above metal. Back when the future was the coolest thing imaginable.

Which is what Julien Dossena respected in the optimistic, dashing and jangling collection he presented for the house on Thursday afternoon in the Grand Palais.

His starting point, a wonderful photo of Paco Rabanne, the founder of the house seen with a mallet and a chisel in his hands pounding out pieces of steel from a huge sheet of metal to be used in a sexy harlequin steel cocktail dress posed on a stockman beside him.

“I loved the fact that he was a craftsman and a designer. He loved making clothes, reinventing fashion with his own bare hands. Though, of course, I wanted to create Paco Rabanne in the materials of today,” said Dossena in the backstage.

So, instead of heavy steel, he used metallic paillettes; silver dollar sequins; dazzling gold plastic disks in his slip dresses; and transparent plastic tanks and super heroine cocktails. Jangling and jingling, the cast strutted rather than walked around the Grand Palais. You could sense they enjoyed what they wore. The clothes were revealing yet empowering. The power to seduce without ever looking for cheap, an effect heightened by the clever use of a cool young casting.

Take the opening look, worn by Lily Stewart of Los Angeles, daughter of the great character actor D.W. Moffett and a classical cellist in her spare time. She looked stunning in a see-through chain mail dress that morphed into miniature steel rosettes, all worn over a black T-shirt slip. Or teenager Nilaya Bal, making her debut appearance in a snazzy trench coat.

“I wanted a certain preciousness. But made in our own materials mixed with a more classic wardrobe,” explained Dossena.

Cobalt colored sequined cocktails under mini faux fur boleros; solid beige argyle sweater held together with metal loops; platinum disk cocktails worn under white mannish dress shirts. They all had a kick.

All referencing the founder, yet, somehow, none of it looked old. A homage but a very hip one by a young designer fully in charge of his game.

Paco Rabanne: repacking Paco

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