Parades
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Preview of the Paco Rabanne, Balmain and Acne Studios fashion shows, as part of Paris fashion week dedicated to women’s ready-to-wear for fall-winter 2023-2024.
A little over three weeks after the disappearance of Paco Rabanne, there was a crowd to attend the parade of his brand, Wednesday afternoon at the Palais de Tokyo. A way for the fashion world to salute one of its most flamboyant actors – Nicolas Ghesquière and Jean Paul Gaultier were among the co-religionists present. What about Julien Dossena, who has been artistic director of the Paco Rabanne house since 2013? The pressure must have been substantial when it came to choosing the form of the inevitable tribute. The answer was rather restrained, without overdoing the mourning, like the message placed on the seats of the guests: a “THANKS” chanted (“for your sincerity”, “for your creative utopia that pushed the boundaries of reality”, “for the radical commitment to your personal expression”, “for this legacy”) with respectful inclination in front of the tour de force – “You are among those who change our view of the world.”
Julien Dossena is clearly less tempestuous than the founding father, and his new collection deployed in 45 passages diffuses softness and lightness rather than radicality. The show opens with several silhouettes in pilou pilou (actually hairy wool), available as a crop top over trousers or long