Paco Rabanne’s dynamic and urban wardrobe

Paco Rabanne’s new collection for autumn/winter highlights the house’s original vision of its founder, transposed into today’s world.

The utopias of the 1960s and 1970s have clearly morphed into an urban, dynamic wardrobe with mastered audacities.

At the very heart of this stylistic reflection, there is an encounter between two currents, avant-garde and elegance.

With the same innovation spirit that sparked its very beginning, the house feeds off a vision of architecture applied at all levels in the collection: construction, assembly, structure, rhythm of filled and empty spaces, and details – visible or invisible.

The Paco Rabanne silhouette is clear-cut and sharp. However, its graphic contours are in perpetual motion. The precision of the line is expressed by newly found comfort.

The kimono sleeves and the jackets designed like supple armours are the strong signatures of the season.

The techniques invented by Paco Rabanne in the 1960s were minutely studied and modernised to convey comfort without impairing visual impact.

The coat of mail is now positioned on tulle or warp and weft; it transforms itself into reflex knit, combining the softness of mohair as well as the high-tech of reflecting fibre.

All the ‘no couture’ elements are adapted to the standards of contemporary luxury.

In keeping with the success of the cult ‘69’ bag, pulled out of the archives and re-launched in the spring of 2011, the house has continued to produce editions of its iconic pieces.

Particularly striking is a jumpsuit in metal pieces that was designed in 1970 by Paco Rabanne for Françoise Hardy. The piece is reborn in metal mesh, as a knit version as well as in warp and weft.