PFW: Young Hearts Run Free At Rabanne Fall/Winter 2024

From the moment the instantly recognisable slow burn backbeat and catchy “dos” of Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner (DNA Remix)” echoed over Rabanne’s runway, it was clear Juliane Dossena would spend the length of the show conjuring an infectious sense of nostalgia. Like the lyrics that chart the everyday movements of New Yorkers, Dossena’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection firmly plants the Rabanne wearers in the real world with a collection of print-laden and overly layered silhouettes.

Since Dossena’s appointment at the French luxuriate in 2013, the creative director has perpetually conjured fantasies through his use of serpentine metal, Paco’s signature, and an otherworldly clash of fabrics. Last season, this took the form of intergalactic space-age goddesses. Yet, here the imagination is hinged on reality where the wares seen on the morning commute or coffee run. (Of course, given the panoply was presented at Paris Fashion Week even these habitual tasks would be performed with a chic sensibility.)

“I’m always on the street in the tube [and I’m fascinated] by the tenderness of women dressing up when you go out in the morning: that daily group of people you observe outside and might not remember, but they stick in your mind,” Dossa said backstage before the show. (As reported by W.) These daily gestures are a cacophony of contrasts, the different personalities and environments you experience that ultimately serve as inspiration in our own life, even if you’re not cognizant of the fact at the time.

This notion erupted into a parade of 33 different identities—yes the garments were styled as “full looks”, but you could see the intention in the range was to focus on individual pieces that could slip seamlessly into your wardrobe. Most impressive was Dossena’s ability to fuse these unique personas into a cohesive universe of Rabanne’s wandering youth.

This could be attributed to the nonchalant late-90s, early-2000s downtown attitude that underscored the range—a time before Pinterest mood boards and TikTok feeds would curate a formulaic approach to dressing and the clothing seen on the streets were authentically adventurous. (A melange between Kim Gordon’s X-Girl label and the whimsy characters from Sofia Coppola’s body of work calls to mind.)

Here textiles and textures melted together. Plaid blazers layered over tartan skirts and in between canary yellow shirts and fur coats lined with leather. Grey boilersuits were styled open and tied at the waist to expose floral satin lining and marled sweaters underneath. Tartan coats paired with leopard print stockings. Quilted bombers offset oversized check ponchos and corduroy trousers.

Yet it was Dossena’s fusing of metalwork in subversive and wearable ways that made it inherently Rabanne. Silver floral motifs were embroidered onto stockings as botanical skirts crafted from the luxuriate’s trademark chainmail.

Much like the magpie dressers amongst us who believe no outfit is complete without a touch of glitz, Rabanne has applied this doctrine to sheath slips, high-octane houndstooth and a new tortoiseshell variation of the classic 1969 Nano bag.

“It’s really about trying to find the intimacy of that daily way of dressing up,” Dossena added. “These models could go in the street and still feel believable.” Rabanne’s young hearts will soon run free. Oh, the adventures they’ll go.

This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.