The Coperni Spring 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week closed with a never seen before moment – Bella Hadid in a spray-painted dress. The dress was made with Fabrican, a material that solidifies into fabric after it is sprayed from a can.
Mesmerising footage from the event shows Hadid walk the runway in only her underwear, before having a white, off-the shoulder slip dress with a leg slit spray painted onto her body.
bella hadid closing coperni ss23, wearing a spray-on dress created live on runway. iconic! pic.twitter.com/nqSLqibfr0
— DUDA (@saintdemie) September 30, 2022
The team that spray painted the dress onto Hadid’s body was led by Dr Manel Torres, the mastermind behind the spray-on material. Coperni is the brainchild of fashion designers Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant.
“We wanted to dedicate this moment to Dr Torres, because we respect what he does so much,” Vogue quoted Vaillant. “We felt that it was absolutely necessary that he led the performance – to us, that makes the experience even more magical.”
For many, the moment was reminiscent of the Alexander McQueen Spring 1999 show, where robots spray painted on Shalom Harlow’s white dress. It became ingrained in people’s memories as a truly unique endeavour at the time. Hadid walking the runway in that stunning white dress is just as iconic and historic, and created a buzz among online fashion communities within minutes. Designers are becoming increasingly experimental with their work, and Fabrican is sure to fuel a larger movement in the world of fashion.
bella hadid for coperni ss23 mirroring shalom harlow for alexander mcqueen ss99 pic.twitter.com/EHbi42ETDa
— tori (@voguepearls) September 30, 2022
