PARIS — Coperni will cease operations, founders Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer said Wednesday in a personal statement emailed to press and retailers.
The brand had entered receivership in June as the founders sought to disentangle themselves from fashion development platform Tomorrow London Group, the brand’s majority shareholder and exclusive distributor since 2019.
“Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, no solution could be found, and we have decided, with great sadness, to stop Coperni’s operations,” the founders wrote, adding that the brand’s eight years had been “extraordinary” and that they were proud of what they had created.
On June 11, a Paris commercial court granted Coperni’s request for court protection, placing the brand into receivership.
At the time, Vaillant said the company had been put under significant financial strain following several months during which Tomorrow stopped paying sums owed to partners and suppliers. The proceedings aimed to allow the label to continue creating, protect its employees and build its future, he added.
Determined to regain control of their label, the cofounders had pulled out of Paris Fashion Week in March amid the dispute and, following the receivership, were absent from the fall 2027 season as well.
Proceedings unfolded as Tomorrow underwent a change in ownership, acquired in March by Progetto 11, the holding company of e-commerce platform The Level Group. The transaction included the exit of Tomorrow’s previous shareholders, among them founder and chief executive officer Stefano Martinetto and Three Hills Capital Partners.
Known for their love of technology and experimental approach to show formats, Vaillant and Meyer staged a show at Disneyland Paris featuring Kylie Jenner in a princess gown, and a performance that saw a nearly naked Bella Hadid spray-painted with a dress.
In Wednesday’s statement, Vaillant and Meyer said there was “still so much we want to explore and reinvent.”