At the end of Coperni’s spring/summer 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week, Bella Hadid approached the runway in nude underwear. Then, a group of scientists sprayed her with liquid that turned into a white dress, made of jersey-like fabric. Is this the future of fashion? Let’s take a closer look at it.
During the Coperni finale, while Bella was being painted on the runway, many made connections to other moments in fashion. A notable callback was to Alexander McQueen’s 1999 spring show when Shalom Harlow’s dress was spray-painted by robots. Although this seemed similar, Hadid’s dress was different. The process took about 15 minutes, but when the men finished spraying the dress, a woman finished off the dress by cutting a slit and pulling down the sleeves to give Hadid an off-the-shoulder look. Then, as Hadid walked away, the dress moved with her — stunning the audience.
The mind behind the spray-on dress is Dr. Manel Torres. The idea started with a can of silly string; in a TED Talk from 2013, Torress said he thought he could “create a mist” which was his “eureka moment.” Although he had studied fashion design at the Royal College of Art and had the idea to spray on (originally) a T-shirt, he didn’t have the knowledge of how to create this kind of product. He then attended Imperial College in London, which is known for its innovations. After presenting his thoughts, they gave him resources to test his ideas: a lab and materials. After two years of trial and error, Dr. Manel Torres began seeing results.
In 2003, Torres created Fabrican — a liquid fiber, bound together with polymers, biopolymers, and greener solvents, that evaporates when the spray reaches a surface which, in this case, was Hadid’s body. According to Torres, the fabric feels like suede and can be manipulated easily, hence the slit that was cut into the dress. However, the texture can change depending on what fibers are used and how it is applied.
To utilize this technology, Coperni designers, Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillan, created a design of their own. The design was constructed with Fabrican and 3D technology to be built on Hadid’s body, moving like a second skin and fitting her body seamlessly. This technology in fashion can be used to make a whole dress, as exhibited here, or even to help repair old damaged clothing (hello sustainability). From here, their plan is to take this technology to the medical field to make casts or spray on sterile bandages from aerosol cans.
This performance at fashion week was a guaranteed show-stopper. “Fashion designers need new materials and fabrics to create products to address evolving lifestyles and consumer demand,” the show notes wrote, explaining that, “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.” Besides the wow factor of this creation, many viewers have been struck by the sustainability potential of this fabric and the future it can hold in its collaboration with the fashion industry. I guess we will have to wait to see how the future unfolds!
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