If you are in the middle of a pre-collection appointment and you suddenly find yourself talking about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, then you can only be meeting with Coperni’s Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant. “As you know, we are very inspired by technology and innovation—it’s our passion,” Meyer said on a recent Zoom from the apartment the two designers share. “I had this dream to visit this place.” Though the institution is “a very secretive place,” it seems it was won over by the fact that Meyer and Vaillant sought inspiration in the laboratory—and its scientists. “We like to think this collection is a bit like jumping in the life of a researcher,” Meyer added. “There are a lot of casual looks because she spends all day and night working—because the lab is going 24 hours—but she wins a Nobel Prize for all her discoveries, so there are also a lot of evening gowns.”
There were button-downs worn over tank tops and paired with sweatpants or jeans and topped off with slouchy jackets for a real business-casual vibe. A track jacket bodysuit-cum-romper worn over a white shirt buttoned all the way up will ensure the so-called pantless trend continues for at least another season. “It’s this whole idea of merging bodysuits with workwear—the jacket pattern is made of 47 different pieces—but then it works so well, you can wear it open and it looks cool too.” A baby tee emblazoned with the phrase “Do NOT Power Down” across the front was taken from an old photo of a computer belonging to Tim Berners-Lee, who created an early version of a web server.
For evening, the Coperni designers indulged in textures inspired by CERN’s machinery. A shiny golden knitted Lurex was used in an easy draped dress as well as a polo-neck long-sleeve top and matching elastic-waist pants for an upscale take on the classic sweatsuit. An electric blue shiny jacquard on a strapless dress with an upper-thigh cutout mimicked the mass of cables and wires that keep the machines running. Elsewhere there was a pair of boxers in a “tech nylon meets organza that feels a bit like paper” and a sexy mini slip dress made from a “lace covered with silicone that looks like milk.”