Coperni certainly never want guests to be bored at one of their shows, whether it’s Bella Hadid with a spray-on dress, robotic dogs on the runway or shutting down Disneyland Paris, Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant love to put on a spectacle. Last night, the designers took guests to the adidas arena on the outskirts of Paris, inviting them to grab a hot dog or a bag of popcorn from the stadium’s vendors before taking to their seats inside the venue among a large-scale LAN (Local Area Network) party.

Reviving the golden age of the internet, the early 90s phenomenon allowed gamers to access multiplayer settings before the invention of WiFi in 1997 – now a given in today’s hyperconnected world, Coperni aimed to rekindle the thrill of discovery and human connection. 200 gamers and tech lovers sat alongside guests in the arena, each sitting at a desktop tuned into their gaming world with headsets, neon graphics, flashing screens and tangled cables. As the lights dimmed, a thumping soundtrack by Parisian DJ and producer u.r.trax shook the venue and models hit the runway, weaving in and out of gamers.

Hackers defined this season’s collection, presenting the Coperni woman as a multifaceted enigma, shifting between identities like the unpredictability of a video game. Streamlined, elegant silhouettes of sharp-shouldered tailoring and sleek eveningwear defined one side of her personality with shimmering floor-length gowns alongside jersey dresses cascading from sculptural neck pieces and thigh-high split skirts. Denim was shredded, distressed and slung daringly low on the hips, while embroidered dragon tattoo prints adorned jeans and tops in an ode to the ultimate millennial hacker, Rooney Mara’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 

Asymmetrically zipper parka coats were paired with sheer tights built with cargo-style pockets, jersey bodysuits in pale greens and yellows met black, brown-striped, and grey-checkered wool tailoring with many garments featuring machine-embroidery designed to mimic the glitching static of screen noise. The collection closed with a puffer-style sleeping bag dress with built-in corsetry in tribute to the overnight LAN marathon as Coperni’s girls settle in for the night after completing their mission.