One concept that we’ve seen a lot over this SS25 season has been the notion of “elevated basics”. We saw it at Gucci, we saw it at Vaquera, and it appeared again at Rabanne. The Rabanne show notes refer to Julien Dossena’s SS25 collection as a cross between the “everyday and exquisite”, as an application of “couture techniques to wearable designs”. How this concept played out was through plenty of multilayered styling and a heightening of many wardrobe staples – rugby tops, striped shirts, and windbreakers.

The collection’s first look, for example, was made up of a denim skirt worn underneath a t-shirt, an unbuttoned dress shirt and a windbreaker. On foot were a pair of pink pumps enveloped in clear plastic galoshes. It was the layering of the items, rather than a focus on one particular piece, that made the look so successful and so, dare we say it, wearable. This continued throughout – huge blazers were worn over metallic jackets, cable knit jumpers were thrown over dresses, and Look 30, impressively, consisted of a t-shirt, a shirt, a hoodie and a long leather jacket. 

Elsewhere, we saw the “wearable couture” in geometric dresses that were fully studded and linked together with chains in a style that harks back to Paco Rabanne’s 1960s. There was also, allegedly, the most expensive bag to ever appear on a runway. The “1969 Artisan Edition in lustrous gold with Arthus Bertand” was the result of over 200 hours of research and prototyping, as well as 100 hours of fabrication. The final bag consists of 371 discs in 18k gold and weighs 745g. So, perhaps, one to only bring out on special occasions.