The Radical Act of Packaging Up the Everyday at Rabanne
Review of Rabanne Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Protective packaging, radicality, everyday duality
Shrouding is a key takeaway that has come from the spring 2025 season so far. Barely perceptible in its subtlety, designers have, since London, been protecting and layering their most precious and even everyday looks with a shroud of sheer fabric. Whether it’s to symbolise the way we should protect that which is most precious to us, or quite possibly to show that beautifully crafted designs are still worth protecting.
Reminiscent of keeping pristine the very things that we cherish most, such as vintage furniture or antique artefacts, designers have been covering up their best creations – encrusted layers of embellishment and decorative ruffles – to firstly keep them safe and promote the idea of longevity, but second to shift the idea that everything isn’t meant for the naked eye and what if it is viewed through a gauzy haze? As if behind glass in a museum, would we consider it differently?
At Rabanne, Julien Dossena told The Impression that he was influenced this season by packaging (his version of shrouding) “First there is candy packaging with the foil and it’s like you unwrap the dress, and you can also unwrap the dress [in relation to the shirt dresses] as if you have layers and layers of paper, like in a box”. But not the generic kind we all know and receive via next-day delivery, Dossena was imagining ‘Brown paper packages tied up with string’ and bows, and stuffed with layers of pastel striped tissue paper. Tapping into a bygone time of anticipating the receipt of a care package or box of gifts from a loved one. The film Safe was also part of todays list of mood makers, as the designer explained “The starting point was Safe, the movie with Julian Moore, [directed by] from Todd Haynes where the colour palette is amazing as there are all these colour aspects. In the end she’s living in a porcelain house so it’s related to everything”.
Rabanne doing daytime dressing is probably one of the few shows where it has looked exciting again, as a brand known for its overtly decorative collection’s, switching to a simpler, yet no less exquisite aesthetic is sure to open up new avenues for the brand. From the “Frosted cable knits, foiled guipure lace and silvery jacquards” as outlined in todays show notes, the designer is on a mission of duality in daywear, much like many of his peers have been seeking to do throughout this season.
Metallic jacquards in sugary shades of pastels are also making a re-appearance, with a similar textile seen earlier at Dries Van Noten. The contrast of highly tactile shiny fabrics against rugby stripes and shirting cotton is going to make getting dressed up for the day an exciting prospect once again, as the designer took the very American concept of Preppy style and applied his Parisian influence to it. There were also chambray blousons, Bermuda shorts, oversized blazers, and boxy T-shirts, all presented as special pieces which were still viable options for everyday use. And let’s not forget the parka and party ensemble which has now been seen across London, Milan, and Paris and makes a solid case for the Brit Pop revival. “It’s a way to think about the clothes in a naive way. I always try to express a vision for the moment that I find interesting, a certain kind of femininity by observing women in the streets and to try to balance that reality by layering and allowing her to pick and choose, and be free to take what she wants from it.” Said Dossena of the dressed down, wearable designs within the collection.
It wasn’t all back to basics, as it was revealed backstage that a gold dress which fluttered and left glittering remnants in the models wake was made from gold leaf (with each metal disc of the dress having a leaf applied by hand), which was paired with an full gold bag made with one of the oldest medal makers in France (Arthus Bertrand). And bags were also made in glass (by Venini) and ceramic (by Astier de Villatte). Showcasing how the designer wanted to work with skilled makers who had the best know-how. “It’s the beginning of introducing really special 69 bags [1969 assemblage bags]…and with the handcraft and techniques I hope it is just the beginning of a different kind of collaboration”.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
Packaging, what does it mean for clothes and packaging on the body. First there is the candy package with the foil and it’s like you unwrap the dress, and you can also unwrap the dress [in relation to the shirt dresses] as if you have layers and layers of paper like in a box. So it was like you had to knot and wrap everything [like packaging]
Julien Dossena, creative director, Rabanne
THE WRAP UP
Reconfiguring what protective clothing means for Rabanne, outside of the chainmail and armour the brand will forever be associated with, Julien Dossena took a simple approach and through of the idea of packaging – such as plastic packaging protecting fruits in Japan as he told The Impression backstage, or foil protecting candy – he combined toughness and tenderness, fragility and the everyday, and gave the Rabanne women the choice to “pick and choose” what she needed from the collection, knowing that she could express many types of duality in her everyday dress.
