Damir Doma titled his Spring 12 menswear collection Into Rooms of Light, and it did feel as if the Croatian/German designer, who trained with Raf Simons before striking out on his own, had, for a change, let a little light in. Dark have been Doma s rooms, season in and season out. His much-layered, loose aesthetic is built by piling piece on piece, but for the most part, they ve come in basic black. There s austerity there, one that has a certain monk s-robes chic, but it has felt a little bleak in the past.
This season, Doma said he d been thinking of William Klein s Rome and its "opulent decay." It was the opulence, not the decay, that made this new collection more interesting than previous outings. The designer hasn t abandoned the layered look he favors, but he s sharpened it by pulling in the straps—often literally. He didn t stint on belts, harnesses, or buckles. Paired with multi-strap sandals, they lent a gladiatorial tone. We are in Rome, after all. Maybe that s why the best looks here felt pagan, contra Doma s usual monasticism. He s been making drop-crotch shorts for about as long as he s been in business, but they felt fresh for a moment again when they came out in gilded lambskin. They were worn not with layers of swaddling cloth but with a simple, almost classic one-button blazer (a reminder that Doma can tailor as well as he can pile) and an open-weave sweater (he can reveal as well as hide). They lit up the dark.
