Jean Paul Gaultier took to Instagram to announce that Paco Rabanne’s Creative Director Julien Dossena will be their next guest designer. This comes after weeks of rumours and speculation that JPG had their eyes set on Dossena, confirming that he will become the first collaborator from within the Puig company.
Jean Paul Gaultier captioned their post:
“We are happy to announce Paco Rabanne’s Julien Dossena will be the guest designer for the next Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture collection in July 2023.
A merging of Jean Paul Gaultier and Paco Rabanne’s creative DNA.”
Since Jean Paul Gaultier’s retirement in 2020, the design house has employed a system where a guest designer collaborates with the brand to create a Haute Couture collection, allowing a new designer to share their perspective on the reputable brand each season. In the past Jean Paul Gaultier has recruited Chitose Abe, Glenn Martens, Olivier Rousteing and Haider Ackermann. This will be the first time that the brand’s guest designer will come from the same conglomerate.
While we will have to wait until July to see the collection, we have seen Dossena work with archival designs and re-imaginations at Paco Rabanne and so it will be exciting to see how he plays with JPG’s rich history.
As the announcement on Instagram claimed there will be a “merging of Jean Paul Gaultier and Paco Rabanne’s creative DNA” it will also be interesting to see how Dossena incorporates some of Paco Rabanne’s instantly recognisable iconography, such as their metallic disks, into a JPG collection. One thing is for certain though, we cannot wait to see the collection show in Paris this July.
Words by: Amelia Gregory
Header Image: Julien Dossena
