PACO RABANNE FALL WINTER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – PARIS FASHION WEEK

Through assembly and archetypes, creative director Julien Dossena envisages the Autumn Winter 2018-19 collection as an artisanal homage to the legacy of Paco Rabanne. Instilled with a radical intimacy, the collection explores the delicate impact of new craft grounded with a real-world élan.

Superimposing flat forms with dense textures, the silhouette appears in constant movement: fine wool and crisp cotton are juxtaposed in effortless tiers beneath shifting structures of chain, crystal, rhodoïd, and pearlescent flowers. The white shirt, jean jacket, camisole and twinset are reconsidered as material research incites new readings into the bourgeois underpinnings of a Parisian wardrobe.

Cage tops, skirts and column dresses shiver with metallic daisies, sequins, and four-leaf clovers. Recreating a duo of archive designs, the collection includes Audrey Hepburn’s mirrored shift from the film “Two For The Road” (1967) and Françoise Hardy’s white chain-link top seen on the July 1967 cover of Elle France.

Elsewhere, the craftsmanship of rigid materials is rendered fluid as a pierced negligée, argyle knitwear, or patchwork shearling. For heightened contrast, Breton stripes, teddy fur, and strict tailoring project shining assemblage into sharp relief.

In an ode to the ‘Iconic’ 1969 chain bag, soft new shapes burst with plastic paillettes, and a new ‘Cage’ duffel is crafted in calfskin, toile, and suede. On foot, slashed Santiago boots ground the silhouette and pool slides pop with embellished hardware.