Damir Doma – The Antwerp’s seventh?

Is Damir Doma the Antwerp Six' younger brother? Christine Bornfeld investigates.

Debuting with his menswear collection in Paris in 2007 and patron of a women’s line since 2010, fashion designer Damir Doma has made his way into the avant-garde fashion scene in a short time. With his voluminous yet sober designs, the Croatian-born designer conquered the hearts of international fashion addicts. His style: uncompromising and exclusive. His approach: deconstructivist. His vision: futuristic distinctiveness.

His hobbyhorse menswear goes around dressed up in extravagant and extraordinary cuts. Chiffon-girded men’s legs parade elfishly over the catwalk, extra long silhouettes leave the impression of an unimagined male elegance that has rarely been seen in men’s dress before.

The persistent similitude of men in chemise and jeans seems to draw to a close. Damir Doma is surfing the new wave of sartorial styles, therewith putting himself on the pedestal of fashion pioneers who fill in the face of a new aesthetic of fashion. Volumes, eye-catching details and delicate materials combined with male austerity herald the end of the classical cut and tailored male dress. ‘I don’t use a lot of classical men’s fashion references’, the designer himself admits in an interview with German-based Magazine Husk. ‘If you use volume and tailor fluid, soft silhouettes it’s often close to being girly and poufy. A man has to keep his pride, his manliness.’

It seems as if Doma accepts a big inheritance, promoting deconstructivism in menswear. Influenced by Japanese designers like Yamamoto and Miyake, also the comparison with the Antwerp Six is not far to seek: those who woke fashion from hibernation with their radical understanding of aesthetics and a seemingly transformed image of the human body.

And so it does not come as a surprise to hear that Doma spent two and a half years in Antwerp before his breakthrough in Paris, being in custody of no less than Dirk Schönberger, Raf Simons and Ann Demeulemeester. ‘In regards to my aesthetics, in no way did they shape my style. The time was very important for me, though.’ Although he backs away from his mentors’ perception of aesthetics, he has learned some things for sure: a strong severity in his clothes, clear lines and a design that doesn’t copy but initiates.

Damir Doma, purist perfectionist, shares a vision that derives from the Antwerp vision of fashion: he wants to make fashion that irritates. Surprises. Scandalizes. He shows alternative ways to successfully position avant-garde fashion within the market. Without big marketing campaigns. Just like the Antwerp six did. Just like an Antwerp seventh would.

Quotes from HUSK MAGAZINE, fall/winter 2010

Christine Bornfeld studied fashion design in Trier and fashion, design and strategy in Arnhem. She now focuses on editorial and visual work.