Do we ever get over our teenage obsessions?
Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena still remembers when he first discovered old issues of British magazines like The Face and Dazed & Confused from the early ‘90s.
It was in his mid-teens, around the time he started going to raves, and one passion fed into another. Fast-forward to the present day, and Dossena is still channeling his fascination with Brit style and music-driven trends ranging from New Wave to grunge.
All of them fed into his resort 2025 collection, titled “English Rose Remix,” which blended British staples like twin sets and chintzy florals with boho glam variations on the Space Age brand’s signature chain mail and sequins.
Cargo pants in an arty camo print were paired with Lurex knits in a faded rose motif, while an apricot panne velvet capelet top and crystal-trimmed miniskirt looked like they had been cut from the same vintage tea dress.
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There were nods to royal style, with a floral-embroidered cardigan and brocade jackets in a delicate shade of sugared almond green, while power shoulders came in a variety of guises, from a slouchy tartan brushed wool coat to a distressed black leather jacket.
Dossena balanced out the tomboyish elements with an array of sensual evening wear, ranging from a slim ivory slipdress edged in laser-cut fringes to a chain vest strung with metal leaves worn over a long black eyelet-trimmed skirt — though even that sculptural outfit was dressed down with a trucker hat.
The designer was inspired by the way youths across the channel mix and match their outfits.
“They have a way of combining clothes and expressing their individuality that is much more interesting and diverse than in France, for example, which is quite conservative,” he said. “I’ve always found that freedom tremendously inspiring.”
Dossena eventually got to experience that culture firsthand.
As a student at Belgium’s La Cambre fashion school in the early 2000s, he was offered an internship at Alexander McQueen in London but dropped out after just two weeks. He ended up spending the rest of his stay working at a pub and hanging out with art student friends, which proved equally formative.
“I loved that summer. Finally I had the impression of really experiencing that English spirit,” he said. Some first impressions last a lifetime.
