There are dueling impulses at work in Damir Doma's new Fall collection. On the one hand, he's eager to assert his designer bona fides; on the other, he's not quite ready to let go of being the cool kid. First the serious stuff: Doma has raised the bar with his fabrics. From the burgundy and denim-blue jacquard that he used for a loose-fitting day dress to the burnout velvet of an evening number, there was a richness and depth to his materials that felt new. It might make the clothes more expensive than they've been in the past. Doma also embraced classic tailoring: A petrol blue double-breasted officer's coat and a wrapped style in fuzzy ombré mohair looked on-trend. He's never seemed too concerned with trends before, but he proved himself quite up to the job here. As for those cool bits, Doma sent a keyhole sweater down the runway with a fraying hem, and there was a plaid skirt peeking from beneath that double-breasted coat, a hint of the grunge imperfections hidden beneath a sophisticated exterior. The push/pull dynamic—elegance tempered by edge, and vice versa—looked a lot like real life. These clothes will find clients.
