How Bella Hadid’s Spray-On Dress That Turned Into Real Fabric Was Created
Paris Fashion Week has commenced, and perhaps one of its more shining moments—scratch that, one of fashion’s more shining moments—was the Coperni show, where a dress was sprayed directly onto model Bella Hadid.
Coperni had opened with Hadid stepping up almost naked onto an illuminated platform before two people rushed up to her, whipped out some paint guns, and began spraying on her body. Out of it came a white substance that looked like cobwebs etching up her and eventually formed into a skin-tight white dress.
Charlotte Raymond, the brand’s head of design, then stepped onto the stage, fashioned the dress’s neckline, and cut a slit up its side.
Besides Hadid’s stellar performance of staying straight-faced as the cold glue-like substance was sprayed onto her, the formula of the dress itself took everyone’s breath away.
The paint comes from Fabrican, a company that makes sprayable non-woven fabric from synthetic fibers and polymers. The material is compressed into an air gun and, as you saw, dries instantly upon contact with the surface.
At the showcase, the substance solidified into a garment that looked like it was made from a silky elastic. The end product was a slinky off-shoulder number that moved and flowed as Hadid strutted down the runway.
The dress can be taken off just as one would a figure-hugging outfit, and it can even be washed, dried, and reused. Though, we imagine slipping into it again would probably need an extra set of hands to get back on.
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Many have noted how this moment had an impact on the fashion world akin to that of Alexander McQueen’s Spring 1999 show, where two robots painted Shalom Harlow in black as she was spun around. But, according to The New York Times, the Fabrican dress wasn’t inspired or meant to overshadow McQueen’s genius; instead, it pays homage to the namesake of the fashion brand, mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus.
The brand was first founded in 2013 and focused on infusing science and fashion together. Previously, it had created a handblown glass handbag that sold for nearly US$3,000.
[via The New York Times and Hypebeast, images via Coperni]
