Damir Doma has asserted his originality and established his reputation with two initial gestures : the introduction of oversized, egg-shaped cuts (“infinity cut”) in FW 09, marking his splitting with the dominant aesthetics inherited from the Hedi Slimane era, joining the line of designers playing with volume, such as Yohji Yamamoto – along with the spectacular introduction of color in SS 10, which once and for all dragged him out of the lineage of the “dark” stylists, with whom he does not in the least identify. FW 10 has marked a manner of pause in innovation, at the same time as Damir was introducing a women’s line which was far from being limited to an adaptation of his men’s wardrobe.
All Quiet on the Eastern Front ?
In this SS 11 collection, Damir is carrying on with his journey round his room, and his inspiration, which used to root somewhere between steppes and Balkans, seems this time to have moved southwards, to the bosphorian banks and the ottoman world, between Venice and Istanbul, as more particularily goes to show his rewriting of the turkish fez :
One will also notice, in the same range of references, his convocation of silhouettes puffed and fitted at the same time, along with the thick, drapey shawls.
The signature silhouette seen in Doma’s previous collections remains the same: an egg-shaped silhouette, inherited from FW 09 and characteristic from the “infinity cut”.
This beautiful outfit results, as in FW 09, of the superposition of two light coats, cut in precious, splendidly coloured fabrics.
Nonetheless, one will note something new, visible on the runway picture : the presence of shoulder padds, quite thick and wide, reaching the neck and accentuating the breadth. A variation on the same silhouette is still presenting this ovoid shape, but with a waist emphasized by a belt.
One will also recognize some of Doma’s wardrobe’s classics, such as the “sloping shoulders” jacket, or the long shirt with slightly flaring tails.
If one still notices in this collection Damir’s characteristic shorts – long, baggy and straight legged - , SS 11 introduces something more, the “Gandhi” short, as turbaned round the thighs and cut in an inverted V, yet partaking of Damir Doma’s repeated effort to close the silhouette on itself at the bottom ot the garment :
Amongst the recurring shapes, one will finally see again the pants with an oversized waist, the inner fold being this time kept in place by a double buttoning stabilizing the shape.
Asymmetry
The play with asymmetry – but of a softened sort, in comparison with SS 08 and FW 08’s first attempts, accordingly to Damir’s wish - is still here, notably with the return of Damir’s wardrobe’s emblematic “unbalanced” jacket.
The same principle applies to another jacket, the shape of which being already known also, but displayed here in softened proportions. One will notice in passing the new cut of the collar.
Other example : the cardigan with double closure system.
Since last winter, and this summer again, asymmetry is gaining on the construction of the pants, presenting an oblique fly.
But asymmetry also moves towards a more unexpected ground : patterns. Present since FW 10 and its infamous leopard prints (they were visible since SS 09 though, particularily on the boots), they hesitate between spots and speckles. Damir, in this collection, goes as far as combining heterogeneous colours and materials, notably on the boots, without it being possible to call this a success, at least when looking at the pieces individually. The recurring issue concerning the fabrication of the boots, which already dissatisfied Damir at the time of his previous summer collection, does not thus seem resolved yet.
Nothing shocking though when considering the silhouettes on the runway pictures, into which those boots integrate easily.
Wearability
The impression of a greater “wearability”, stressed by a number of commentators, is by no means the consequence of a change in the cuts themselves, but in their proportions, less extreme. With this collection, Damir does indeed come back to an oversizing less accentuated and at the same time closer to the body, giving to his garments this impression of a more formal elegance.
Let us precise that this work upon a lighter silhouette combines with a search for a more local ornamentation, notably with the shawl collars, the asymmetry of which allowing multiple possibilities of draping.
The SS 11 runway took place in the open space of Lycée Henri IV’s cloister, as to echo the one from SS 09, the stage of which being also outdoors, in the gardens of the roumanian embassy.
One can only salute Damir’s effort to propose a runway being a real spectacle, not a mere, hasty display of silhouettes left unseen by the audience and destined to the sole zoom lens of the photographers’ crowd, gathered on the dedicated podium. The reference to Turkey and the ottoman empire, in particular when coming from a Croat raised in Germany, forces nonetheless to question its sense : is it only a reference to the history of clothing ? Or to History also – and more particularily in its contemporary, most tragic dimension ?
Christian MICHEL Translation : Fabien C. Translation rereading : Brian C.