Coperni SS23 by Sébastien Meyer was experimental, to say the least. Held in the Musée des Arts et Métiers’ Salle des Textiles, the crowd entered the hall and sat around an empty space. Empty, except for the square, underlit platform and cables leading to a mysterious table with two tinted glass bottles. And then, the show began.

Coperni presented a show with two faces: A face of elegant simplicity and brutal creativity. The show's vitality was evident as the collection flowed with rhythmic pulsations like a beating heart. The first look brought out a simple black dress accompanied by a grey blazer with its sleeves held by belts. Later, a Matrix-esque leather jacket, a form-fitted dress, and cigarette pack shoulder pads. The collection ebbed and intensified, presenting conceptions of the human form and its distortion to varying states.

There was a heightened creative output, with Meyer’s imagination running to forms and shapes with an elegant playfulness that grew and grew as the show continued. Bra cups for shoulder pads over jackets, dress panels held by metal spiral trimmings, slithering across the garment like a serpent. Twisting, flowing fabric tied around the body as thin, sculptural bags walked through the stage. There was a lot. There was even a dress made of a thousand pieces of tinkling glass that rang light at every angle, reflecting the outside world with a glimmer and stride.

Now, when one thinks of alchemy, fashion from a bottle doesn’t tend to be the first thought. However, the world witnessed a show finale last night like no other. The brilliance of performance art in fashion has returned to the stage. Alexander McQueen’s SS99 collection, featuring robots spray-painted a white dress worn by Shalom Harlow, Issey Miyake’s FW12 collection with in situ tailoring, and Margiela for SS06 are all prime examples of how fashion and art intertwine. They mould together in such circumstances to convey the creation of a dress, the ability for garments to transform (much like Hussein Chayalan’s SS2000 Airplane dress) and, last night, by creating a dress out of paint itself. Bella Hadid stood as her dress was sprayed directly onto her body, soon to be thin, glistening white and perfectly fitted like a second skin.

Then, she walked the stage and ended the show with mouths gaping and an uproar of applause that continued into the early hours of the day and probably, for some time to come.

Images courtesy of Coperni.