Rabanne H&M collaboration brings back the spirit of the ’60s

There’s a hint of 1960s futurism with the Paco Rabanne–H&M collab, but recyclable materials have their part to play in the 2023 interpretations
 





 
The Paco Rabanne label is the latest collaborator in the H&M designer collections. The Rabanne H&M collection brings back the space-age futurism of the 1960s and the work of the house’s founder, Paco Rabanne, but with a modern twist.

The archives have inspired the womenswear, taking wearers back to the ’60s when Rabanne’s metal paillettes were radical, essentially wearable art, and along with André Courrèges promised a future that never quite arrived. The 2023 interpretations are more practical, with metallic mesh, sequins and chainmail, with just enough of the ’60s for a wearer to channel Casino Royale (the Charles K. Feldman version, not the “official” Eon one) or Barbarella, both of which Paco Rabanne himself worked on. Reinterpreted for today, they instead paint a slightly retro, but very chic, image, expressing an experimental and noncomformist nature.
 

Columbia Pictures Corp.
Above: Paco Rabanne’s work is obvious here, in a still from 1967’s Casino Royale, with Barbara Bouchet as Miss Moneypenny and David Niven as James Bond.
 

Leopard prints and chiffon gowns appear alongside the metallics, while men get silver suits and mesh vests, faux fur coats, double-breasted jackets and a belted dinner jacket. Accessories also take the paillettes, mesh and sequin themes, while the Rabanne H&M Home capsule collection comprises metallic furniture and sculptural accessories.

Leather and wool appear and the metallic mesh uses some recycled material; sequins are made from recycled PET and the rhinestones from recycled glass.

The collection is available today at selected stores and at hm.com. The Home capsule is US-only.