The Rabanne “Chasing Dreams” FW23 campaign said, “what would you be if you could be anything you wanted?” Serving looks that seem to have stepped straight out of a fantasy – and we mean a literal fantasy, not just your average Rabanne-themed daydream – the campaign is ethereal, spirited, and just plain gorgeous.
Inspired by “ideas that spring from the unconscious into a white space like a waking dream,” Rabanne’s “Chasing Dreams” campaign is a vision of a fantastical fairy-land we think you’d all like to escape to. Entering into the collection feels like stepping barefoot onto the cold stone floor of an imposing castle dressed for the life we all run to in our daydreams, complete with a gown and gold finishings.
The rose motif (perhaps a subtle reference to the historical symbol of the rose in English Tudor times) is present throughout the collection, seen on skin-tight dresses and tops alongside leaping tigers and flying elephants which help to evoke a sense of the surreal. Chain mail is also heavy throughout, on dresses made up of inter-connected, flashing, silver panels which leave sensual squares of torso bare, and hand-bags in a variety of different styles.
Some of the collection’s models actually carry bows in a Game of Thrones meets high fashion kind of way, whilst other looks are accessorised with Mediaeval-style, gold wrist-cuffs and pendant necklaces that look like they could have been plucked from the chambers of a particularly well-dressed royal.
However, the collection pulls on daydreams of the modern day as much as it does from an ancient fantasy. Mini skirts and sneakers are still ever-present; a comforting reminder that at the end of your daydream you can still wake up to electricity and running water. We certainly know we’ll be dreaming about this collection for a while.
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