Imagine being Sebastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, the two French artists behind Coperni, who just invented the first ever spray-painted dress. Putting on a show during the busiest week of the year is already an event in itself, let alone marking the fashion timeline. Facing the pressure of a live audience, limited time, and a model, the infamous Bella Hadid, to communicate with who must make the job as easy as possible for the men all while putting forth grace. Luckily, that last part comes easily to the international supermodel.
Surgeon, Julian de Silva, claimed Hadid “holds the crown for the most beautiful woman in the world.” Compared with the ‘Golden Ratio’, Silva announces that she has the ‘perfect face’. Her features match that of a Greek goddess. So, it seemed fitting for the luxury brand to have a muse be a major piece to their artistic puzzle.
In only ten minutes, Meyer and Valliant perform godmother work and whip together a form-fitting, eye-piercing white dress with off-the-shoulder straps.
Charlotte Raymond, the label’s head of design, made a statement when she entered the scene to adjust the neckline in the midst of it drying and cut a slit into the bottom portion of the dress as well.
With no stitching came no hems or seams, so from a distance, it mimicked the appearance of a light tee shirt material. However, as she strutted the remainder of the runway, all guests recalled that there were brief water droplets that could be seen glistening in the light.
While the dress looks and feels so incredibly real, you can also make it disappear and redo the creative process if desired by just putting it back into the liquid. Coperni evidently is ahead of the time as they have been eyeing this material since the 2000s when it came into production. While the fibers that bind together are beautifully extenuating, the fabric can also be manipulated depending on the fiber and binding agent used.
Meyer made it clear that the dress will not be for sale, but emphasized the importance of pushing technology boundaries in the fashion industry to keep things interesting. He calls it a “celebration” rather than a profit-making innovation.
This is not the first time Coperni stopped everyone watching in their tracks! Doja Cat had a hand-blown glass handbag at the Grammys this year. Some made notions that the inspiration behind the dress correlated with McQueen’s Spring 1999 show; Shalom Harlow went from bare body to being engulfed by a white, princess-like gown all due to the work of two robots. Meyer and Vaillant shut down those claims in seconds.
The two fashion moguls interpret new technological advances and propel the movement forward not only for the industry specifically, but the world at large.