The autumn-winter 2023-24 fashion show at the Palais de Tokyo paid tribute to the late designer Paco Rabanne, who passed away in February 2021 at the age of 88. The designer Julien Dossena incorporated quotes from historical garments of the Maison and reproductions of paintings by Salvador Dalì. The collection celebrated the connection between the two Spaniards who kicked up a lot of sensational fun together with performance and film in the late ’60s and early ’70s. The finale tribute showcased metallic chainmail, plastic chandelier drops, and multi-layers of reflective feathers, partly from the long, spectacularly photogenic evening dresses Julien Dossena sent out, and partly from the mini-dresses designed by Paco Rabanne himself.
Julien Dossena’s research for the collection named “Chasing Dreams” became a kind of trip into the subconscious where fabrics became fuzzy, and knitwear went a bit crazy. Glittering up ordinary-seeming coats, sweaters, and trousers, he treated the Dali paintings “as if we were slashing into the canvases,” cleverly dissecting bodices and re-linking them with metal grommets. From there, it was full-on into 14 varieties of Dossena’s slinky, multi-component options for turning heads.
The Paco Rabanne Fall Winter 2023 – 2024 collection at Paris Fashion Week explored textures. Unexpected materials, the perpetual pursuit of Paco Rabanne, emerged with new intrigue. Sensations were translated through the symbolic pillars of design: color, form, volume, and movement. The collection features four paintings, including The Shades of Night Descending (1931) and Sun-Table (1935), that become both distorted and dimensional through assembled panels. The artists’ imagination shows up elsewhere: a bejeweled pomegranate virtually throbs at the gathered heart of a flou dress, and small telephones dangle from earlobes.
The statuesque silhouettes made a sensual impression, long and direct with shifting focal points tied at the décolleté, exposed around the core, draping and pooling towards the ground. Austere statements that nonetheless enveloped the body, synthetic lavender, sfumato blue, ochre, and almond brought subtle richness to the gleaming metal and elemental black. Interspersed throughout the sequence of looks, leather boots that fit like second skin boasted reflective wedges as though floating. Pointy silver flats recalled the earliest decade of Paco Rabanne, while a new retro sneaker grounded coordinated pieces with a ’90s allure.
As a coda to the couturier’s legacy, the show ended with five archive creations accompanied by spoken extracts atop the soundtrack. Spanning five decades, these dresses signaled the innovative craftsmanship that will always define the timeless and totemic women of Paco Rabanne. The Paco Rabanne Fall Winter 2023 – 2024 collection is a surrealistic tribute to Paco Rabanne’s vision and his friendship with Salvador Dali, providing a glimpse into their radical artistic expression. The collection explores textures, unexpected materials, and innovative craftsmanship, showcasing the brand’s perpetual pursuit of innovation.
Overall, the collection’s inspiration ranged from historical garments of the maison to the paintings of Salvador Dalì. The designer cleverly dissected bodices and re-linked them with metal grommets, and the unexpected materials emerging with new intrigue captured Paco Rabanne’s perpetual pursuit of innovation. The statuesque silhouettes made a sensual impression, enveloping the body in austere statements. The show concluded with a tribute to the couturier’s legacy, showcasing the innovative craftsmanship that will always define the timeless and totemic women of Paco Rabanne.
