Pt.2 Coperni Femme
On May 22nd, LVMH will announce the winner of their 2015 Young Fashion Designer Prize from a pool of 8 finalists – Arthur Arbesser, Coperni, Craig Green, Faustine Steinmetz, Jacquemus, Marques’Almeida, Off-White, and Vetements. Started in 2013, the prize was launched to champion standout talent and foster their labels. Winning means getting a seal of approval from a jury of fashion’s foremost designers and industry professionals like Nicolas Ghesquiere, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, and LVMH’s own Delphine Arnault. Aside from being recognized by the industry, the winner receives a 300,000 euro grant and a year’s worth of expert support from the foundation. Of course, success in the industry for these designers isn’t reliant on winning, but it certainly sets the stage.
Presenting Models.com’s exclusive week-long spotlight on each of the designers in anticipation of their final presentation at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the announcement of the winner on May 22nd.
The LVMH 8
Photography: Steven Yatsko for Models.com
Stylist: William Graper @ The Wall Group
Art Direction: Stephan Moskovic
Hair: Takayoshi Tsukisawa
Makeup: Kim Weber
Production: Jazmin Alvarez
Photo assistant: Jason Acton
Manicurist: Natalie Pavloski @ LMC Worldwide
Shoes: Martiniano
Portrait courtesy of the designer
Text by Steven Yatsko
Models:
Irina Shnitman / IMG
Mona Matsuoka / IMG
Just as this story was being finalized, Courréges announced the appointment of Coperni Femme’s designers Myer and Valiant as its new artistic directors. Along with the announcement the designers have withdrawn from the LVMH Prize turning attentions to their new endeavor; as such they are still featured here among the 8 nominees for the prize although they are no longer in the running. Parallels to André Courréges’ futurism-predilections and the A-line are conspicuous, making them an apt (and young) fit.
Coperni Femme from French designers Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Valiant is of discerningly pragmatic repute among the eight LVMH contenders. The label’s Parisian sensibilities, fine-spun nuance and modernist flair previously secured them ANDAM’s First Collections Prize. The pair met while studying at the Mod’Art International School in Paris and has since acted in counterbalance, “We used to say that Sebastien is the creative one and I (Arnaud) am the business one. In fact we are really complementary.” Sébastien’s role is chiefly as designer while Arnaud operates on the frontline of business saying, “I try to translate his creativity in a more accessible way.”
“We’ve always been fascinated by astrology and science,” says Arnaud. Starting Coperni in 2013, named after Renaissance astronomer Copernicus, the disciplines of science somehow seamlessly translate into the language of their design. For their Spring 2015 collection called “The Last Days of Tropism” Arnaud notes, “It aims to capture the idea of the natural movement of flowers blooming, a concept we explored with embroidery and openings.” The collection, comprised mainly of trim A-line skirts and modish mini dresses, is conceptually unfussy and the fabrics are quietly authored in an imaginative way by Myer, a textile savant. The designers are inspired by Brutalist architecture and their approach starts “with geometrical shape, and by playing, folding, stitching them, we create a new textile or a new shape.” They then hone in on developing the more wearable pieces designing with their quintessential Parisienne in mind. “Our muse Lolita Jacobs inspire us a lot,” says Arnaud of the it-girl and goes on to explain, “Being a Parisian can be a state of mind more than were you live. It means a chic, intelligent, cultivated, curious woman who loves to dress and needs to feel good in her garments.”
