A Lesson In Dressing With Personality
Review of Rabanne Fall 2026 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
It has been a moment in fashion since we have seen the type of maximalist layering that Julien Dossena has made his own for fall. Ever since the brand downsized from Paco Rabanne to Rabanne and reduced the emphasis on its chainmail heritage. But with dressing for joy starting to permeate within the shows of a few key names (Diesel, Dries Van Noten, Dior), and Chanel still to come, what the designer presented for fall could be the beginnings of a new wave of dressing defiantly with a positive attitude in spite of the global outlook.
Seeing fashion as a living art, with those who inhabit its world as ‘real, living characters’ the designer was on a mission to reignite that intimate connection we once had with our clothes.
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Joy in Abundance, Everyday Overlayers, Granny Chic Gets a Redux
Julien Dossena has a way with a layered look, one that he’s been refining for a few years at Rabanne. Following on from his surf-inspired, sun-soaked spring collection he also took a light-hearted look at fall that felt like a child discovering a dressing up box.
The designers fall collection all but confirmed the fact that the shift back towards joyful dressing is spreading across the season. This tracks as we have seen a prolonged period of identikit dress codes proliferate from brand to brand who were chasing the attention (and discretionary spend) of the 1%. Playing it safe came with seasons of homogenisation that had more to do with satisfying the number crunchers than bringing new ideas to the table.
But since the rush of designer debuts last season the tide has slowly turned as a flood of new perspectives enter the market. And the timing couldn’t have been more aligned with a growing consumer fatigue over price hikes and a lack of reasons to buy another basic T-shirt. This rethinking of the luxury playbook has been met with much front row approval that will hopefully resonate with consumers later this year when the collections hit down in stores.
This ‘moreness with meaning’ as coined by Simone Bellotti earlier in Mialn was a visually effective display of how to layer well. Through tonality, controlled kitsch and healthy dose of drama in the form of iridescent shimmers. House dresses were cutesy and twin sets were barely recognisable covered as they were – from collar to cuff – with sequins in a ditsy floral and paired with rugged cowboy boots, definitely not what your mother would have worn. There were elements too of country lady by way of Grey Gardens in the twee knits and check pencil skirts, as well as the skirt suits styled with open necked floral blouses. Yet, this was prevented from looking to familiar with a younger take in the multi-coloured knitted vests worn with slouchy tailored pants and a fifties inspired blouse with camisole showing or the sheer embellished slip dress worn over a half zip fair isle sweater.
There will be some aspects of today’s show that felt slightly overworked, but Dossena may just prove to be ahead of his time when the maximalists return with a vengeance.
THE WRAP UP
Rabanne’s Fall 2026 collection saw Dossena return to the layered maximalism that has become his signature, delivering a strike for individuality in contrast to the homogenised luxury dressing of recent seasons.
Leaning into a growing shift toward joyful self-expression the designer proposed a wardrobe built on playful excess: ditsy floral sequins, prim twinsets, house dresses with a kitsch twist, and “granny chic” knits layered over exposed slips and tailored separates. The result felt like a raid on a dressing-up trunk, where country-lady nostalgia met youthful experimentation through colour, texture, and unexpected overlays. While some looks bordered a little on the overworked, the collection’s controlled drama created a cohesive narrative. A narrative that suggested Dossena’s upbeat more-is-more approach to fall may signal that fashion is once again ready for a healthy dose of dressing with personality.
