THE INTERVIEW
Paco Rabanne’s Julien Dossena
His was the show of Paris Fashion Week last season and his collection for Fall (presented earlier this March) was a hit parade of pieces that promised a much-needed return to glamour on the runway. Since arriving at Paco Rabanne in 2015, Julien Dossena has been quietly working his magic into the label known for its futuristic lens on fashion. And yet the beauty of Dossena’s influence is that it’s quite the opposite approach to a look far ahead: he's all about the present. As Vogue’s Sara Mower wrote in her review of his Fall ‘19 collection, “now is now. Who dares or wants to project forward into the day after tomorrow, let alone to where we’ll be years hence?” Because, really, the present according to Dossena looks too good.
On the heels of his show—one that earned riotous applause—Moda's Megan Hayes sat down with Dossena to talk innate “undoneness,” the ultimate mood board and designing the kind of clothes that bring a thrill.
Megan Hayes: Congratulations on what was truly one of the best collections of the season. In reading the reviews, the word glamour has come up several times. Was that your starting point?
Julien Dossena: Thank you! That’s true, I wanted to work on that notion of glamour and recontextualize it now, the way that glamour can uplift you and give you power.
M.H.: On that, can you take us through your design process?
J.D.: Yes, I begin to search what aesthetic value I want to express, what seems relevant to me and my team at that time, and link it to the brand core. Then the work of exploration begins.
M.H.: Tell me a little bit about your mood board for the season. I heard the names Françoise Hardy, Marilyn, Jimi Hendrix...
J.D.: It was about people who were exquisitely cultivated in their art and attitude, who were trying to build in that sophistication of style, something new and unique. People who used fashion to express their inner self to the world— sort of modern dandies.
M.H.: There’s always this sort of “undone” aesthetic signature to the collections you design. Is that something you’re actively aiming to achieve? Would you say that “undoneness” is rather innate to the Paco Rabanne woman?
J.D.: I would more say that undoneness or effortlessness is something that I love in general, that subtlety of not pushing too hard. I was a grunge bands fan so I guess it’s always perceptible in my work. Paco Rabanne has that, too, in the way women appropriated his designs in a super undone way. It’s a kind of a French thing I guess.
M.H.: What other qualities would you use to describe the woman at the heart of the brand?
J.D.: She is fearless in a way that she doesn’t think twice about the radical effect a Paco Rabanne dress can make. I think she also can be interested in that cold sensuality those clothes can procure.
M.H.: What’s the takeaway for women reading this when they go to get dressed for Fall? Is it about a letting go of rules/the strictness of fashion, is it a return to elegance, is it finding something to be excited to put on?
J.D.: That thrill fashion can give you when you put that kind of outfit on, that’s what I wanted to search for. Fashion can be super interesting also in that expressive feeling you can feel when you find a particular design piece, to be able to give your point of view.
M.H.: After a few seasons of clean metal jewelry, it was so fun to see glittering crystals back—and boldly. What made them feel right this season?
J.D.: I thought about power. And I searched what expresses it in general, and big jewels (crown jewels, Hollywood diamonds etc..) were something I wanted to have fun with.
M.H.: Is there anything else that you felt was newly relevant now?
J.D.: Cutting clothes in a way that simply celebrates the woman's body with love.
M.H.: As with glamour, there has been a renewed focus on craft across the industry with Spring/Summer ‘19 and into Fall. Where do we see that specialness of design in this collection?
J.D.: I tried to upgrade everything I was working on: pants were sequined, embroidered or printed, dresses were studded with rhinestones, in liquid printed velvet, even the shoes were sequined or in fake python with jewels, bags were in mesh with fringes. For me craft is about attention and details, that’s where is the true expression of design.