For Fall/Winter 2024, Coperni took its visions to the stars, literally. From star-shaped stilettos to monolithic clutches, the Parisian house embraced the intergalactic, filling the runway with dresses that resembled space blankets and ballooning skirts that looked like the rings of Saturn.
But one particular accessory stole the show: the Air Swipe bag, made from the lightest solid material on Earth. An egg-shaped, nearly transparent clutch that seems like it was taken right off a spaceship, the Air Swipe is made up of a substance that is 99 percent air and 1 percent “glass”. The glass portion is actually the nanomaterial silica aerogel, which the Coperni creative team describes as “very delicate (and non-fragile).”
Prior to becoming fashion’s latest breakthrough, silica aerogel was used by NASA to collect cosmic dust, because the material can withstand extreme heat and pressure of 4,000 times its weight.
Created by Professor Ioannis Michaloudis – a researcher and visual artist at the forefront of incorporating silica aerogel into the fine arts – the Air Swipe is the largest object ever created with the nonomaterial, and it only weighs about 33 grams.
The Coperni creation raises big questions about the future of accessorizing. If we can make a purse almost entirely out of air, what’s next? And does it mean there’s a more sustainable future for fashion?
Obviously, while we turn to bags for style, we also want them to hold our stuff. When Coperni posted the bag on Instagram, one commenter expressed what was on everyone’s mind, asking “Does it serve the function of a bag tho??”
Coperni responded, “It can hold an iPhone ;).”
So that’s the bag summed up: lightweight, sustainable, futuristic, and functional. As Fashion Month is closing, Coperni is proving the sky truly is the limit, and the air might be the key to our future.
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