Julien Dossena backgrounded his Rabanne pre-fall collection against two very different types of French sea-board settings. The digital landscapes tell the story: a notional Atlantic coast for a practical outdoor-walks type of attitude on the one hand, and somewhere more Cote d’Azur-ish for beach-wear, on the other.
Dossena grew up in Brittany, familiar with its rugged shoreline and sea-faring culture. Hence, he explained, the mariner lines that thread through the daywear: a hardy brown weatherproof fisherman’s coat Rabanne-ized with a silvery lining, a yellow rain-slicker jacket, a corduroy cap, a stripy-t-shirt, a short toggle-fastened duffle. Of course, all that’s remixed through the sensibility Dossena’s given the brand: an extended wardrobe that spans his taste for 1970s micro-florals (a grabby example: on a high-necked tunic-shirt), cargo pants, biker jackets, and the like. Arrays of signature chain-mail party dresses follow.
Something else stands out about what’s going on at this house: Dossena’s knack for making the paillette-link Rabanne 69 bag different and more desirable with every season. By adding new components—like wood, leather, plastic—these highly identifiable objects can become lighter, more adapted to current fashion, and above all, easy to use. Dossena paused over explaining a shoulder-strapped version. “It’s reversible: burgundy leather on the outside, and silver on the inside. So you can buy two bags in one.” So, you might wear it for the day, maybe with a cozy, blanket-y look, and then turn it inside-out for an evening out, perhaps in a Rabanne bodysuit-anchored dress with a glittery embroidered top.
He also has high summer covered in ways only the French understand—a bouillabaisse of beach lifestyle dressing with a soupçon of wit tossed in. There’s the practical-chic of his ’70s-Deco toweling jersey pieces: “easy, like a pareo, when you want to pull it on over your swimsuit and go off with your friends.” There’s a retro Hawaiian-style print of sailboats and flying fish, crafty lace-inserted South of France white jeans, and Dossena’s charming trimmings of scallop shells and mother-of-pearl discs. “This will arrive in May,” he promised. “Just when girls start going to the beach for the weekend.”
