PARIS, France— Julien Dossena was in a feisty mood today and he decked his catchy Paco Rabanne party girls accordingly in slinky, liquid, asymmetric pieces that toured and coiled around the body. It was a smashing, convincing outing and probably Dossena's strongest since his appointment as creative director a few years ago. There was the setting, for a start, with standing guests integrated into the set up as attendees to some underground club.

There was the pace of the show, with girls walking fast, overtaking one the other, basically just looking effortlessly cool. And there were the clothes, most of all, which felt modern but retained a deeply feminine quality without the chilly coldness that seems to have gripped French fashion of late.

"A certain feistiness is part of the Paco Rabanne DNA and I thought it was time to explore it," said Dossena backstage. Indeed, it was a glittery galore of after dark dressing — not a piece of outerwear in sight — with more metal mesh than Dossena has ever used before. "Rabanne is metal and the more I stay here the more I get familiar with it." Fringed and dancing rather than Space Age, it was indeed Julien's own metal, not a replica of Paco's.