In Rabanne’s World, Mixed Prints and Metal Shirts Are Perfectly Cozy

Real-world style and layers, layers, and more layers have become ubiquitous trends on the fall 2024 runways. And what better way to solidify the recurring theme than with Rabanne’s fall 2024 collection, which put personal style with substance squarely at its heart? Creative director Julien Dossena filled the basement of the Palais de Tokyo with his guests, most of whom were dressed in their most glittering ornamental pieces that clinked and chimed as they found their cobalt-blue seats. At least one section of the front row was like a glittering ASMR experience.

Dossena sought inspiration from the everyday woman—or at least, a very particular, highly stylized one, with a bit of a ’90s “It”-girl-does-grunge spin. “I’m always on the street in the tube,” he said backstage, moments before the show. “[And I’m fascinated] by the tenderness of women dressing up when you go out in the morning: that daily group of people you observe outside and might not remember, but they stick in your mind.”

Dossena’s version of every day manifested in a dynamic landscape of cool combinations and diverse pairings: sheer embellished button-down dresses over embroidered tights and t-shirts, or short chunky coats paired with black padded faux-leather grandpa cardigans. The core of the collection centered subversive layering—like the kind of thing you’d see in an OG Fruits magazine. Leather jackets were worn over sweaters or button-downs, and there were a multitude of sheer dresses with big cozy scarves on top. Leather dresses were actually made of chainmail, and stylized metal shirts were worn beneath soft fabrics. Makeup artist Diane Kendal used Rabanne’s beauty line to create a very minimal, no-makeup look to bolster the undone air.

Unlike Dossena’s previous collections (which have hinged on all things shiny and over-the-top, or else super-casual pairings,) there was an element of rawness within the piled-on layers. “It’s not polished,” Dossena said of the collection. “It’s really about trying to find the intimacy of that daily way of dressing up.” Elements of personal style served as literal and physical reminders for safety: “You’re going to need a cardigan when you arrive at work,” the designer said. “You have a jacket on top of it to take the tube. And then after you go to the café, you take off the first layer and then the second layer and then the next—which I always love. These models could go in the street and still feel believable.” Fashion loves a fantasy moment, but realness, when done in an interesting way, is perhaps an even more powerful statement.