Damir Doma Paris Fashion Week S/S 2013

When Damir Doma’s opening model walks down the runway in an architectural and form-flattering white leather jacket, long white shorts floating with her every step, and hair slicked back in a deep side-parted ponytail, it is clear that the Croatian-born designer knew exactly where to take the downtown style that has defined the first two years of his career in women’s wear. No longer just oversized and drapey, the look is structured and substantial. In his SS13 collection, Damir Doma’s downtown Parisian girl is more refined than ever—she has taken a break from her dreamy black oversized garments for new pieces that are well-articulated collages of texture and color.

Earlier this year, the Parisian-based brand Damir Doma, designed by Damir Doma, moved from a nondescript one-room shop in the Marais district of Paris to a three-level flagship store on rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré, one of the chicest streets in the city. With the move came an added luxury to the clothing itself: the bright blue and teal silk jumpsuits and harem pants in the SS13 collection are sophisticated and majestic. And Damir Doma knows how modern luxury works best: in balance. For every silk look, Doma gives us another look with edgy camel or black leather. The designer has shifted from his signature dark palette to one that includes gorgeous olive green, camel, white, and brilliant blue. Many of the looks feature thick leather waist-cinching belts that might seem rigid if they weren’t balanced with the sublime and freely shaped pieces underneath.

Doma has said that his goal is to divine a “juxtaposition of the rough and the refined,” and that goal is realized in the SS13 collection. Everything is in equilibrium here: silks, leather, and shoes with raffia-woven straps and embossed metal heels. When looking at the masterfully orchestrated tension of fluidity and structure, dreaminess and severity in Damir Doma’s SS13 collection, it is hard to believe that the designer’s first women’s wear show was just two years ago, at Paris Fashion Week 2010. In two years, Doma has fine-tuned his designs into powerful and commanding pieces. His ear is still to the street, but in this collection Damir Doma displays polished maturity. We are sure to see great things from this newcomer in seasons to come.