French house Rabanne and its creative director, Julien Dossena, who “reinterpreted the brand’s heritage for a new generation,” announced “the end of a 13-year fruitful collaboration” on Wednesday. His successor will be announced in due time, according to the release.
“Julien Dossena has profoundly shaped a new era for Rabanne, bringing renewed energy and modernity to its avant-garde heritage through a singular and globally resonant vision,” Ana Trias, president of prestige and fashion brands at Puig, said in a statement. “All of us at Rabanne and Puig would like to warmly thank Julien for his exceptional creative direction and for the remarkable chapter he has written in the history of the maison.”
“I would like to thank the Puig family and group for their trust and for supporting my vision [for] over thirteen years. I’m equally grateful to my teams, ateliers, and collaborators, whose craft and commitment made the work possible,” Dossena said.
During his 13-year tenure, Dossena modernized the house’s iconic chainmail through innovative techniques while infusing his collections with radicality and versatility, transforming Rabanne into one of the most anticipated shows on the Paris Fashion Week calendar. “In the hierarchy of French fashion, he’s a creative director who continues to punch well above his weight,” Vogue Runway’s Sarah Mower wrote in 2018. “Over five years, he’s turned around the reputation of the relatively small house of Paco Rabanne and turned it into a destination label — and a great hope — for women who do want to shop.”
When he was still a student at prestigious fashion university La Cambre in Brussels, Dossena was awarded the special jury prize at the Hyères International Fashion Festival in 2006. In 2008, he joined Balenciaga, where he climbed the ranks under then-creative director Nicolas Ghesquière. After Ghesquière left Balenciaga in 2012, Dossena launched his own ready-to-wear label, Atto, which reached the LVMH Prize final in 2014. He was appointed artistic director of Paco Rabanne in August 2013 at the age of 30. Shortly after joining the house, Dossena paused Atto to focus on his new job.
When Sabrina Carpenter stepped onto the Met Gala steps for the first time in 2022, she did so wearing a custom Paco Rabanne outfit designed by Dossena, while Dua Lipa repeatedly wore Dossena’s era Rabanne chainmail mini dresses. 2023 (the year the brand abbreviated its name to Rabanne) was a busy year for Dossena, who designed a couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier, another Puig-owned house, and collaborated with H&M on a Rabanne and H&M collection.
