Why a New Documentary on Paco Rabanne Was Five Years in the Making

MILAN — “Are you a provoker?” asks a voice-over.

“Oh la la, oui! A provocateur to goad people. I was different, I was something else,” replies another, in a mix of French and Spanish. Only this was the voice of the late visionary fashion designer and perfume legend Paco Rabanne, in an excerpt of his last interview, conducted seven months before he died in 2023.

The voice-only interview is at the center of a new…