Bella Hadid

• Bella Hadid walked the Coperni runway in a spray-on outfit.
• It was part of the brand’s spring/summer 2023 presentation.
• The ultramodern Parisian label was created by Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant. 

In a famous spray-on outfit, Bella Hadid finished the Coperni Spring/Summer 2023 presentation on Friday, September 30.

Two men started spraying what seemed to be white paint on the model’s body as she moved toward the center of the runway while just wearing a G-string and covering her breasts with her arm. The men completed applying the spray-on paint in about 15 minutes, at which point it had changed into a dress. Then a woman approached and altered the garment by shortening the hem, adjusting the sleeves, and slitting it.

After making any final tweaks, Hadid walked the ramp to demonstrate the spray-on dress to the spectators. Since then, the fashion trend has become widely popular online.

The show notes shared by The Cut read, “Fashion designers need new materials and fabrics to create products to address evolving lifestyles and consumer demands. In the 21st century we should make it the first time that science and design really march together in close step, illustrating in this way their interdependence.”

The ultramodern Parisian label Coperni was created in 2019 by Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant. During Paris Design Week, the team revealed the formula for the innovative liquid as well as the inspiration for the iconic fashion statement

“It’s our celebration of women’s silhouettes from centuries past,” Vaillant said in a preview over Zoom ahead of the show. “And we wanted to update our aesthetic in a more grown-up and scientific way, too,” adds Meyer.

The spray-on method was created by Fabrican, a business established by Spanish fashion designer and scientist Manel Torres. When fabrican liquid comes into touch with the body, the cotton or synthetic fibres are suspended in a polymer solution and evaporate. It can be taken off after use and transformed back into a solution so that it can be used again. Torres claims that the material has a suede-like feel and is similarly malleable to other fabrics. Over the past six months, the co-founders of Coperni have been collaborating with Torres and his group at London’s Bioscience Innovation Centre to design the spray-on, one-shouldered dress.

“The brand is named after Copernicus, the Renaissance-era astronomer, so it’s inspired by science, progress, innovation and technology,” Vaillant told in an interview earlier this year, when they had already experimented with hand-blown glass handbags, antibacterial clothes and XR-shot campaigns.

“It’s our duty as designers to try new things and show a possible future,” says Meyer. “We’re not going to make money on this, but it’s a beautiful moment — an experience that creates emotion.”

“In fashion you always need this dream and this pragmatism. We are creative but of course there are constraints,” says Vaillant. “When we launched Coperni, we really wanted to have fun. We knew we wanted to fulfil a passion and enjoy it. We are not saving lives!”

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