The shows are on in Paris but the coronavirus fear is in the air. Only shows with a powerful message, which go beyond fashion, can register. Here is Paco Rabanne.

Julien Dossena has been honing his craft. A taste for the 70s as in beautiful party dresses are at the core, he has taken the house of Paco Rabanne to new fashion heights. But then it’s not a surprise from a designer who grew up in Brittany where his father was running a discotheque. Also, a knack for uniforms with exaggerated usage of buttons has come to the forefront at Rabanne. On top, Dossena is cleverly collaborating with image wizard Marc Ascoli for his advertising and all visual materials creating a hard to pin down, irreverent and arty Maison. Every retailer and online boutique seeks after Rabanne, just last season Dossena was celebrated by Mytheresa with a lavish dinner at Le Grand Vefour in the Palais Royal.

The heart of the collection?

Dossena is a hard worker and loves the idea of radical craft. His hand at cutting and combining metal mesh in silver and gold to make ultra protective garments awed. But best were his tailored coats with embroideries, which took inspiration from historical dress of clergy women and even the pope.

Female power?

After the Weinstein conviction in New York, the #MeToo movement should gain new strength so Dossena’s idea of a faux sorority felt very timely.

The covered up face?

Let’s say it. Face masks do nothing against the coronavirus unless they are changed every twenty minutes. They are meant to be worn by infected people. Still, it was haunting to see Dossena’s headgear often in chain mail and covering the faces of the models as a sort of medieval protection to disease and combat.

Great footwear?

Dossena struck the right balance between extreme height as in exaggerated platform boots in red or flat shoes as in combat boots in faux exotic skins.