PENELOPE celebrates Paco Rabanne&#39;s visionary legacy with a rare sale.

In the hushed world of fashion, some stories resonate like secrets, woven between flashes of spotlight and emotional silences. That of Kathy Jean-Louis and <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/portraits/paco-rabanne-and-his-metallic-poetry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paco Rabanne</a> is one of those that are never forgotten. It is this memory, vibrant and rare, that the auction house PENELOPE is honoring in an exceptional auction, orchestrated in close collaboration with Maison Rabanne and its Heritage &amp; Archives department .
Until May 5, on the Drouot platform, the past parades with panache: metallic dresses, sculptural jewellery, and iconic pieces from the 60s and 70s tell of a liberated era, where fashion flirted with art, science fiction and Parisian nights.
But beyond the futuristic aesthetic, it is a singular relationship that is revealed: that of Paco Rabanne and Kathy Jean-Louis , a discreet but unwavering muse, whose name whispers an unwavering loyalty to the visionary spirit of the designer.

It all began in the effervescent Paris of the late 1970s. Paco Rabanne , already known for his daring experiments—dresses made of metal plates, captivating perfumes—became enamored with Caribbean music, African rhythms, and the nocturnal energy of the Black Sugar , a legendary club in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It was there that he crossed paths with Kathy Jean-Louis, a young high school student with a haughty bearing, who was soon propelled into the spotlight of the catwalks. She parades, of course, for others. But Paco, he wants her whole. She embodies his sketches before they even exist. &quot; I knew I was going to meet you, young woman,&quot; he tells her. A declaration with a double meaning: artistic and emotional. For twenty years, Kathy Jean-Louis would be his silent pillar. No glamour shots, no diaries. Just a constant, precious presence. Even when she turned to the world of cosmetics in the late 1990s, Paco called her back: he had lost his muse, and with her, a part of his genius. <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px;">He needed her. Faithful and loyal, Kathy Jean-Louis, who now worked with Patrick Alès, would continue to accompany him until he left her house for good in 1999.

A sale like a treasure trove of memories

Today, this sale is much more than an opportunity to collect. It is a tribute to fidelity, to living memory , to a certain idea of creation that could not exist without human connection. Through Kathy Jean-Louis &#39; collection , but also three extremely rare pieces from the archives of Jacobo Romano and Jorge Zulueta, directors and accomplices of the designer, a whole section of fashion history resurfaces, intact and dazzling. Each piece tells a story. Each seam is a secret. This sale is an exceptional opportunity for fashion lovers, style historians, but also for any soul sensitive to the beauty of a gesture, to the trace left by an era where audacity knew no limits. By acquiring one of these treasures, we inherit a breath of fresh air. That of Paco Rabanne . That of Kathy Jean-Louis . And a vision of fashion that, far from being fixed, continues to inspire, to move, to make us dream.

Online auction on <a href="https://drouot.com/fr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drouot.com</a> until May 5

Paco Rabanne: an auction paying tribute to the designer's forgotten muse

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