Cardi B brought star power to the Rabanne show Wednesday afternoon in Paris, further proof of how hot the Puig-owned brand is with Hollywood as of late. Rabanne has had lots of red carpet hits in the past few months, from the archival 1996 spiky dress Anya Taylor-Joy chose for the Australian premiere of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” to the medieval chainmail spring 2024 look Chappell Roan wore a few weeks ago to pick up her Best New Artist award at the MTV VMAs.
“I love what she’s doing and what she represents,” Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena said of “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” singer.
But he is also interested in dressing women more casually, and his spectacular spring collection was a ray of creative hope in a season when so many designers have been relying on tried and true archival styles.
How did he do it? By meeting the moment when people are looking for versatile classics with ones that look sexy, young and inspirational, and elevating what’s already on the street (boxer shorts!) with playful masculine-meets-feminine layering, icy pastels, sparkle, shine and lots of leg.
Blazers looked fresh gathered at the back as if they were parkas over men’s striped shirting and shorts or barely there skirts. And lingerie pieces got an update coated in foil to reference the house’s history of using unconventional materials. Mariner striped T-shirts (everyone has one but not like this) were charming with embroideref lace overlays tied at the hip over bloomers, sure to be fashion editorial darlings. T-shirts sliced open in the back over parachute nylon bubble skirts also looked current.
Knitwear was another focus, a black floral cardigan open and attached at the shoulders to the matching crewneck for a new look.
There were jingly jangly dresses, including one that scattered flakes of gold leaf as the model walked (just fabulous). That gold look referenced the 1968 “most expensive dress in the world,” designed by Paco Rabanne for Francoise Hardy. There was also an homage to the dress done as a bag, which the brand is billing as the most expensive bag in the world.
But Dossena didn’t only rest on the house’s gold laurels; light and airy dresses of foiled layers of silk organza were examples of Rabanne’s new, softer craft, while a fluid silver apron dress cut low to reveal the hips gave the house mesh a modern, sexy ease.
”It’s always a progression,” Dossena said. Bravo for fashion looking forward.
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