Clothes laced with bacteria go viral as designers claim glowing skin benefits

A fashion trend is spreading...for bacteria-infused clothes.

A new range of leggings, bodysuits and tops are laced with germs – and will set you back between £150 and £180 a pop. Designers claim the workout clobber helps rebalance the skin’s protective barrier and natural glow.

Paris-based brand Coperni and Swiss biotech experts are behind the wacky collection, which hit shelves last month. Each gram of the stretch fabric contains some 140,000 live, friendly bacteria cells which are slowly absorbed by the skin when worn.

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And it’s hard-wearing too, with the active ingredients promised to last up to 40 washes. The idea for the collection, which Coperni is calling Carewear, came when founders Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer asked themselves: what if clothing could do more than dress you, what if it could care for you?

They said: "We often forget that the skin is a living organ, a delicate ecosystem. We wanted to imagine clothing that could become an ally, a second skin infused with kindness and intelligence. For so long, fashion has focused on what’s visible, the shape, the colour, the silhouette.

"Now, we’re entering a time where what’s invisible matters just as much: how it interacts with your body, how it supports your well-being. In the future, we believe garments will be more than just style, they’ll be companions in wellness, extensions of self-care, and reflections of a more thoughtful way of living."

Materials were carefully designed to ensure no compromise on comfort, before being dermatologically tested on human skin. It’s not the first quirky release from Coperni. During the Spring Summer 2023 show, the brand shocked the world by asking Bella Hadid to appear naked on the runway, before being covered in a white outfit by being “sprayed” directly on the spot.

This was an exclusive collaboration with Fabrican, a technology company specialising in the production of high-performance materials. The daring performance was hailed as a revolutionary moment by fashion critics. not only raised Coperni’s reputation but also engraved in the memory of fashion enthusiasts as a revolutionary moment.

The brand's Fall Winter 2023 show once again surprised with the appearance of robot dogs assisting models in changing outfits on the catwalk. Inspired by the 17th century fable “Der Wolf und das Lamm” (The Wolf and the Lamb), the show explored the balance between technology and humanity.

The show also featured bags made with 55,000-year-old lunar meteorite. In 2022, they teamed up with New York glass brand HEVƎN, using high-temperature glassblowing techniques to create transparent glass bags.

Kim Kardashian’s underwear brand Skims is also known for pushing boundaries, including releasing a thong with faux pubic hair. Celebrities known to wear Coperni's general collections include Gigi Hadid, Billie Eilish, Hailey Bieber, Megan Fox, Kylie Jenner, Rihanna, Doja Cat and Sydney Sweeney.