“Never for money, always for love” was the name of this collection held in a beautiful semi-derelict occupied space in Milan, which Damir Doma proudly reported had never agreed to hold anything as bourgeois as a fashion show until he asked them. Doma is unquestionably an artist who wields plenty of love. He is niche, and likes it like that. But the pleasing thing tonight was that you could see these credentials adding up to some money too. This was a simultaneous menswear and womenswear Spring ’17 collection—like Sibling, he’s not faking it and is ahead of the curve—and although uncompromisingly Doma-esque in its pulled-apart wistfulness and fray, it had (especially in the womenswear) obvious commercial appeal too.
What to zero in on? We started with a lot of patchwork ripped denim with tufted raw selvedge edging in Doma’s oversized intellectual hobo shapes. A long silk hoodie-shirt was semi-opaque to reveal the abstract print of the shirt beneath it. Leaf embroidery occasionally furled at a shoulder. After a monochrome entrée, Doma pressed the pedal into an ochre section that delivered punchy quench. Hand ribboned pieces plus trousers, outerwear, and skirts in sections semi-attached to each other by metal rings like a partially pulled down shower curtain were artful disarray rendered in fabric. The men’s and women’s sections echoed against each other in a complementary chorus. This was art that deserves commerce.
