COPERNI: The Digital Future
After the launch of your Coperni brand in 2013 (with four collections shown by 2015) and with seven collections at Courrèges, you revived your label last year. What was intended with this comeback?
Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer: to have fun and get back in touch with our customers. We restarted Coperni in a very natural way - but with more experience, with less stress, and above all, with the aim of creating fairly produced and desirable products. Price is our daily struggle. We want to anchor ourselves in reality with affordable pieces to dress the people around us in. We have also concentrated our return on digital projects in order to be in direct contact with our target group and to strengthen this relationship through the use of interactivity.
Coperni has come closer to digital technology with @copernize_your_life and also with the recent screening of a short film at Apple for spring/summer 2020. Is Coperni a connected brand?
Our dream is for Coperni to be the most connected brand! We have a passion for technology, and it is up to us to propose new solutions. The catwalk format was invented by Charles Frederick Worth over 150 years ago... and nothing more has happened since then. With the tools at our disposal, we should be able to foster more interaction. “Copernize your life” is a virtual adventure on Instagram that accompanies the return of the brand. The more recent project, “Coperni Arcade” focuses on issues of interactivity and more fun for consumers.
In two seasons, you’ve designed an intelligent wardrobe that blends couture, the sixties, and minimalist 90s codes. Can you summarize the DNA of the label using these keywords?
We always disapproved of the idea behind complete looks because it leaves no freedom. Our customers should combine our designs with other favourite pieces as they please. We want models that last a long time and do not follow seasons or trends.
The brand defines itself as: Innovation meets technology.
How do you recognize your brand’s designs?
A Coperni piece must meet several criteria. Simplicity when it comes to cut, an idea of movement, an innovative detail and an inspiration that is often taken from design or technology.
How do you divide the work amongst yourselves?
We work together in all aspects of the business. Even if our roles are very different! Arnaud takes care of the business aspect and I do all the creative work.
Between the required traceability, the power of influencers and athleisure... what are your unique selling points?
We are fighting on two fronts: innovation (from digital to sustainable) and chic. The term “technological chic” is our specialty.
Photos: Coperni
