Back to The Future

A debut makeup line from the house of Paco Rabanne honors the late designer’s iconic metalwork and prompts an experimental streak

- By Laura Regensdorf

The fashion press was not prepared for Paco Rabanne’s first runway show in 1966. The title alone was a provocation: “Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials.” Models strode through Paris’s Hotel George V wearing jangly constructions made of Rhodoid or metal tiles, each pieced together with rings using needle-nose pliers. (“Sewing is a bondage,” Rabanne, who died work at the Balenciaga atelier.) Le Nouvel soon caught on with a mod warrior class that included Françoise Hardy, Jane Fonda, and landings and sexual liberation, Rabanne scent Calandre—French for “car grill.”

Creative director Julien Dossena’s arrival in 2013 brought the fashion house back to the fore. (Next-gen fans include Elle Fanning and Beyoncé, who wore a spangled dress onstage for the Renaissance tour.) This month’s debut of Rabanne Beauty extends that luster with a full-face assortment that mines the brand’s metalwork roots and renegade spirit.