Julien Dossena to design next Jean Paul Gaultier couture collection

Jean Paul Gaultier has announced the next guest designer for the brand’s haute couture collection, which will be shown in Paris in July. Julien Dossena, the creative director of Paco Rabanne, will be the fifth guest designer for the brand, after a stellar collaboration with Haider Ackermann last season, as well as earlier couture collections by Sacai’s Chitose Abe, Glenn Martens and Oliver Rousteing.

Mr Dossena and Mr Gaultier are both linked to Puig, the parent label with majority ownership of the Paco Rabanne and Gaultier businesses. Mr Dossena said working with the designer’s couture atelier in Paris is like driving a ‘Rolls-Royce,’ referring to the technical prowess and design possibilities. In the same interview with WWD he said: “When you are touching all those pieces, you can try to understand the thinking that allowed him to arrive at that exact reference, mixed with another reference that makes it unique and at the same time super French, mixed with that cool, 1990s grunge feeling — yet realized with the most exquisite techniques and embroideries. You realize that’s what makes him one of the greatest couturiers and designers of his time.”

Mr Dossena, who has helmed Paco Rabanne for a decade, previously worked at Balenciaga under then creative director Nicolas Ghesquière. Mr Ghesquière, as it happens, is also an alum at Jean Paul Gaultier, making for a full circle of incredible design talent.

“Julien has a particular sense of reinterpretation, and I’m curious to see how he will play with my codes,” Gaultier told WWD. “Paco Rabanne’s heritage is extremely rich, and Julien knows how to make this strength resonate in his collections.”