Paris Futurist: Julien Dossena interview

Paco Rabanne creative direction Julien Dossena has his own take on futurism: it’s all about the rhythm of modern life

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It was Marie-Amelie Sauvé who first suggested that Julien Dossena join French fashion house Paco Rabanne. Sauvé – an influential stylist, consultant, and long-term collaborator with Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière – left a voicemail on Dossena’s phone, but in a Sliding Doors-like moment, the young designer almost missed out on his current role. “I remember I got a message, but I didn’t listen to it, so [Sauvé] thought I didn’t want the job,” Dossena, 36, recalls. “I knew and I loved that brand. She was the rst to see [that] what I was doing could be translated to Paco Rabanne.”

Since his appointment as creative director in 2013, Dossena has skilfully redressed Paco Rabanne as a contemporary fashion brand, mindful of its avant-garde past. “In France, it was really popular,” he says, describing his own memories of the brand and its one-of-a-kind heritage. “In the ’70s, he dressed Jane Birkin, Françoise Hardy, Amanda Lear – all these star singers. From my grandmother to fashion people in Paris, everybody knows about Paco Rabanne.”

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