What do Copernicus and fashion have in common? Very little on the surface, but not in the eyes of Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, the couple behind the up-and-coming French label Coperni Femme and recipients of this year's ANDAM First Collection Prize. The Prussian astronomer was a soft revolutionary: Turning the tables, he defined the solar system as we know it today with his notion of heliocentrism. Similarly, Meyer and Vaillant aim at creating a soft wardrobe revolution, marrying clean shapes with intense handwork and innovative fabrications. There is something exquisitely Parisian, in the modernist/futurist sense of the term, about Coperni: Fast lines come across as a fine balance of dryness and bourgeois chic; they demand a lean body, a strong personality, and no makeup. The collection, so far sold exclusively at Opening Ceremony, is small and focused. Spring '15 included such staples as the minidress, the A-line skirt, skinny trousers, blousons, shirts, and tops. Surface decoration was limited to rhythmic inlays, repetitive slashes, and graphic signs. That's it. Futurism is clearly high on Meyer and Vaillant's agenda, and so is salability: They are designer and financial director, respectively. Their work has character. A pale blue shirt with extra-long sleeves knotted and twisted around the wrists showed it also has the capacity to be a bit more daring.
