Coperni, the label behind Bella Hadid’s spray-on dress, is closing

Coperni, the young Paris label that turned its runway shows into viral moments, is shutting down.

Founders Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer said on Wednesday that the brand is ceasing operations. In a statement reported by Vogue, Business of Fashion and WWD, they said they could not resolve a dispute over unpaid sums with Tomorrow Ltd, the London company that is both Coperni’s exclusive distributor and its majority shareholder.

“These eight years have been extraordinary,” the founders said, according to Vogue. “Coperni has always been a collective adventure, and we are immensely proud of what we have created.”

The shows people remember

Coperni was never the biggest brand in Paris, but few labels got more attention per show. The best known moment came in 2022, when a team sprayed a liquid fabric straight onto Bella Hadid’s body on the runway, and it set into a white dress in front of the crowd. Clips of it were watched all over the world.

The brand also had a hit product. The Swipe bag, a small curved handbag inspired by the swipe-to-unlock icon on a phone, became the brand’s signature.

Meyer and Vaillant ran the label as a pair from the start, mixing technology and fashion in a way that made Coperni feel younger than most of the Paris calendar.

Video: "Coperni Spring Summer 2026 Show", Coperni on YouTube.

What went wrong

This did not happen overnight. Back in June, Coperni entered court protection in France, according to Vogue. Tomorrow, which owns the majority of the brand, was itself sold earlier this year to Progetto 11, the parent company of The Level Group. Vogue and WWD date that sale to March.

Tomorrow’s own books looked rough. Vogue reports its 2024 turnover dropped 34% to £8.4 million, and it lost £7.5 million at the operating level.

Coperni had already cancelled its autumn-winter 2026 show at Paris Fashion Week, Vogue reports.

A warning for young brands

Plenty of fashion labels have gone this way, just more slowly. A small brand hands a big stake to a backer who also runs its sales and distribution. Done well, that gets the clothes into shops far from Paris. But if the backer gets into trouble, the brand is stuck with it.

Coperni had fame and a bag people wanted. What it lacked was control over the cash coming in, and that turned out to be the part that counted.

Vaillant and Meyer haven’t said what comes next for them. Nobody has said what happens to the Coperni name or the stock left over either. For now, nobody is making new Coperni pieces.

Top photo: Jean du Sartel-Heintz via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.