“The sun is shining on the campus of Coperni High,” boomed a voice on the loudspeaker at the start of Coperni’s fall show. The vast white set, in a film studio on the outskirts of Paris, was lined with gray metal lockers. “It’s like a sci-fi ‘Euphoria,’” said Arnaud Vaillant, cofounder of the brand with his husband Sébastien Meyer.
The coed collection, titled “Coming of Age,” was an “ode to youth,” he continued, noting that young people have been especially hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The display was dedicated to the Cap Est workshop in Ukraine, which produces most of the brand’s tailoring.
The looks were inspired by classic teen movies like “The Virgin Suicides” and “Cruel Intentions.” Starting with twisted takes on school uniforms — quite literally, in the case of elongated black blazers with a cutout, looped midriff — it segued into more seductive fare, like the pink latex prom dress sported by Gigi Hadid.
No hoodies here. Instead, the lapels of tailored coats extended over the head, while cable-knit bodysuits morphed into balaclava hoods for a cocoon-like effect. Bottoms included Y2K-style black jersey leggings with denim or vegan leather flares attached at the thigh.
If the soundtrack was rooted in the ’90s — including Hole’s excellent “Celebrity Skin,” recently reprised by Doja Cat — the sensibility was very much of the here-and-now.
One could easily imagine the latex bodysuits and wraparound miniskirts on the cast of “Euphoria,” who are all over the runways and front rows this season. Alexa Demie, who plays Maddy Perez on the show, has sported Coperni’s signature Swipe handbag on-screen and off-screen.
“When you’re in school, your first runway is in the hallway, so I thought it was interesting to do a show like this, because we all went through that,” Meyer remarked. Times may be grim for today’s youth, but some things never change.