Coperni’s Robot Dog Moment At Paris Fashion Week Leaves Internet Divided
Paris-based fashion brand Coperni’s spray-on dress from last season became one of the most viral moments of 2022.
It wasn’t a one-time thing, though. Coperni has continued on the path of integrating tech with runway shows. The brand’s Autumn/Winter 2023 runway show at Paris Fashion Week was a striking spectacle that left the fashion world in awe. The iconic design house drew inspiration from the classic French fable, The Wolf And The Lamb, to showcase a choreographed sequence featuring robot dogs.
The event saw Boston Dynamics’ ingenious canine automatons strutting their stuff alongside human models, creating a futuristic fusion. Coperni’s official Instagram page shared stunning images from the show, capturing the dynamic duo of man and machine in perfect harmony.
“The Fall Winter 23 collection is a modern fable about the relationship between humans and technology,” the brand wrote. “The show presents Coperni’s vision that there is neither a dominant nor a dominated, but that mankind and machine can live in harmony.”
In a further post, Coperni revealed a video of a model interacting with one of the robot dogs to reveal the dress.
The reaction from netizens was a mixed bag. Some hailed the viral moment as a visionary breakthrough, while others questioned the need for machines in high fashion and criticised the mediocre dresses.
“Alway’s killing it,” wrote one user, adding a fire emoji at the end. Another wrote, “In love! J’adore!”
Others were underwhelmed. “All that gimmick for a lackluster club dress?” asked one Instagram user. “Oh, wait and see these robots being used by the system (police) to stop us. It won’t look that cute or fashionable after it,” said another, referencing the policing role the robot dog has been pitched for. People also voiced their worries of robots taking over the world, hunting people, and being used by the powerful to keep the masses subdued, too.
Still others compared it to Alexander McQueen’s 1999 show that used robots to spray paint on a plain dress to create a design on the spot.