Damir Doma s favorite kind of woman looks fragile, but acts strong. "The kind of woman in a photograph by Deborah Turbeville," he said backstage. That dichotomy played out in the designer s Fall collection, which juxtaposed his tailoring—he designed menswear before launching his women s line three seasons ago with pieces that were soft to the touch: a navy Mongolian lamb fur vest and jacket tipped in white, a ponyskin miniskirt and swing jacket printed in leopard. "I m putting the focus on dresses and pushing it in a feminine direction," he added.
But only up to a point. Doma s aesthetic is a minimal one; he prefers a clean, uncluttered silhouette. Meaning you won t be seeing girlish frills on his runway anytime soon. Or high heels. Doma s models wore creepers. And as for those dresses he promised, more often than not they looked like tabards worn over leggings or a shorter skirt. They weren t quite monastic, but they certainly weren t come-hither either. To convey the femininity he was going for, Doma turned to color: a lamé skirt the shade of a penny came teamed with a matching Lurex-shot knit shell and a pair of bicep-accenting copper cuffs.
Last season s bare midriffs and sheer fabrics revealed a somewhat tenuous grasp on what real women need and shop for. It s still the subtle tailoring that stands out here, but those furs and ponyskins point to a new understanding.
