The stage for Paco Rabanne’s Spring ’21 collection looked either like a shimmering 70’s discotheque or a sleek futuristic sidewalk. Models traversed the sparsely populated white and silver room in clothes that sought to mesh the everyday with the avant-garde.

The overt blend of contrasting principles appeared throughout the collection. Modesty and ostentatiousness butted heads as long skirts and jackets were sewn together with revealing lace and glitzy metal hardware. Some looks, jeans with a crop top and leopard-print jacket, were supremely wearable while others, head-to-toe gold metal circles, could hardly be expected to walk anywhere but a runway.

Julien Dossena, Creative Director since 2014, has been widely recognized for reinvigorating this futuristic brand. A native of France, he added his own personal touch to the legacy of Rabanne, and successfully so.

The spring show’s models included friends of Dossena’s: writers, actresses, students, and interns. They, and the professional models, represented the woman of France, not as we’ve come to characterize her through our American lens, but as she is in her home.

Watch the Spring/Summer 2021 show below.