David Koma. Spring 2024 - London Fashion Week.










(Images:  David Koma 2023)

David Koma is that type of fashion designer who seems to excel with every collection for his signature label.   And his Spring 2024 array was of no exception, in showcasing his talent.  And it was during the lockdowns ala the global pandemic of 2020, Koma set forth a refreshing take on the hedonistic, during a year of calamity, while exuding his positive impression with the label's Resort 2021 collection.  which at the time, offered that right dose of amatory mixed with the nonchalant, like a lascivious phoenix being reborn from the chaos.  Models appeared in the middle of a small lake, emerging from the surrounding fog.  It was sex at the end-of-the-world.

Which, if one is to draw from esoterical spiritual beliefs, you would subscribe to the mystical, the occult and Tantric practices.  As a discipline of transcendence through space and time, by leaving the physical being.  Thus, embracing a deeper meditation beyond the human form.   Sex and death have been intrinsically linked to rebirth.  And it is the flower, a cyclical symbolism in most religions, that Koma as imprinted into his latest collection, which encapsulates the beginning and the end.

Also noted from previous showings is Koma's take on the darker reflection of the femmine, which can be and is a difficult formulation from the perspective of the masculine.  As many male fashion designers have attempted defining an edger element of femininity, can end up casting too much of a stygian presence.  She becomes enveloped in her own darkness.   Koma knows the subtle, and how to create balance, with his eye for detail, the dark path does not mean a colorless one.   

For Koma's Spring 2024 array, he has set the template with 56 designs within the brutalist setting of the Tate Modern basement in London.  And it seems fitting, as models walked within its polished concrete and pillars, reflecting its protective enclosure.  What was once a former power station with its massive turbines, now has been recreated to house Art and Fashion shows.  And it is this fascination with Brutalism architecture, which still radiates an insulating allure. Born out of the first Cold War and as we enter a new one, the austere underground and its tomb like fixture, offers a purity in its humanistic overture, to which Koma has chosen to be his backdrop for his latest collection.

With fine wools, satin and silk tulle overlays, Koma's beautifully crafted fits and styes are, as mentioned, balanced between the subtle and blunt.  Accentuated by the flower embroidery and pattern work, with models adoring rose themed accessories.  Koma's Spring 2024 collection is truly a divine presentation, reiterating Koma's fascination with the feminine mystique. 

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(A.Glass 2023)

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