Julien Dossena's fashion is inspired by young people's gender fluidity.
Paco Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena
The Paco Rabanne creative director unveiled his guest collection for Jean Paul Gaultier at Paris Fashion Week, described as a "merging of Paco Rabanne and Jean Paul Gaultier’s creative DNA".
Julien believes that fashion design is moving into a new age, where "we’re not even talking about androgyny anymore" but just making clothes for any type of person.
Speaking to Vogue, he said: "I like it most when inspiration happens as naturally as possible, and I love the idea of freedom in general. I’m an optimist by nature, so when I see a whole generation that doesn’t sit around wondering whether they want to look 'more like a boy' or 'more like a girl' – we’re not even talking about androgyny anymore, we’ve moved beyond that. This new generation has exploded the old way of thinking beyond what I would have thought possible. Now, freedom of expression is very pure – you can be whatever you want, and I find that really beautiful. Freedom without limits inspires me. It gives me a lot of hope for the for the future.”
For his guest collection, Julien was given access to the Jean Paul Gaultier runway archives but he is adamant that he has not created a nostalgic show.
He said: "The clothes [in the archive] are so alive. For me personally, nostalgia is about an emotion that’s aroused by seeing something again. For me, it’s more about discovering, for example, a dress in this kind of draped, crushed silk velvet that used to be used for hats, but it’s not being produced anymore, which is when you say “wow—there she is.” Those moments are somewhat sacred, but it’s not about nostalgia.
"What was amazing was having a chance to work with the archives, because there’s a difference between having an idea about a collection and actually being able to touch the clothes and see their real-life allure."
Tagged in Jean Paul Gaultier