rabanne brings “High Summer” to Rio de Janeiro

In a campaign that is an ode to Carioca funk, to its people and to the eternal ritual of dance as a form of identity, resistance and rebirth.

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As soon as dawn breaks, Rio is born again. And it does so with the cadence of a beat that never stops, with bodies still vibrating in the echo of the last party, and with a dense energy that floats between the cracks of dawn and the first light of day. This sensory limbo becomes the perfect setting for rabanne, inspiring its latest campaign. A story that was not imagined, but lived.

But the High Summer collection doesn’t just look at Brazil, it fully immerses itself in its culture. Under the creative direction of Emmanuel Cossu and through the lens of Melissa de Oliveira, it forever encapsulates its spirit as if it were a neorealist film. In the images there is colour, there is body, there is community.

More than seventy people star in this choral portrait of funk culture: from passinho dancers like Hiltinho Fantástico and the Oz Crias collective, to DJs like Aisha and Guiguinho.

The connection between rabanne and music is nothing new. It goes back to the 1980s, when Paco founded Paco Rabanne Design, a funk and soul label with which he broke all the moulds of the Parisian industry. He was a pioneer in sound as well as in representation, opting for black models when it was still taboo on the French catwalks. He also opened the iconic Black Sugar club in Saint-Germain, a cult venue for Afro-Caribbean sounds.