Coperni Expands to Beauty With Probiotic Athleisure

From a spray-on dress to a robot dog, Coperni runway shows are never short on new technology. For its Oct. 6 Paris Fashion Week show, the French label’s latest high-tech reveal marks its debut in the beauty category with the launch of its new fashion-as-skincare athleisure line.

“We live in the beauty era,” said Arnaud Vaillant, CEO and co-founder of Coperni. “Everyone these days is very into functionality, this idea of taking care of yourself.”

Teased on social media before its official announcement today with a campaign starring model Paloma Elsesser, the brand’s new C+ collection is made up of athleisure basics infused with probiotics and prebiotics meant to transfer from fabric to skin. Described as “carewear,” the first three items – leggings, a top and a bodysuit – will be made available for pre-orders on Coperni’s DTC site on Thursday at 5 PM Paris time, ahead of the brand’s runway show on Oct. 6.

While viral fashion show moments such as spraying a dress on Bella Hadid have helped generate publicity for the brand in recent years, the co-founders said its latest innovation prioritises sales rather than brand awareness alone.

“We were a bit frustrated because they were not commercial projects. It was more fashion,” said Sébastien Meyer, creative director and co-founder, of the brand’s notable runway events. “That’s why we wanted to create a project with a commercial aspect.”

Priced between €150 and €180 ($175-$211), the C+ items are comparatively accessible to Coperni’s main collection. But Meyer said that they will be integrated into the upcoming runway show styled with the dresses and tailoring the brand is known for.

This won’t be the first time the brand has launched functional fabric, as it previously unveiled antibacterial garments during the pandemic in 2020. Skincare-infused clothing items have been making their way to the market as of late through fashion startups such as PH5 with its hyaluronic acid sleepwear or Skims’ recently unveiled face wrap with “collagen yarn.”

With up to 140,000 colony-forming units of live bacteria in one gram of fabric, Coperni’s line is the first to use a new fabric patented by Switzerland-based material innovation company HeiQ, which has worked with brands such as Patagonia, Rossingol and Boss. It is meant to last for at least 40 washes, and improve the skin’s microbiome and moisture.

Vaillant sees the new line as a bridge between fashion and beauty, comparing it to a mashup of Skims and Augustinus Bader.

In the future, the co-founders hope the new line will attract beauty retailers, and plan to expand the C+ collection to more products. A future show will be centred around wellness.

“It’s a world that we can invent. There is a space for a crossroad between beauty, clothes and fashion,” said Meyer.

Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.