David Koma wins again

The British Fashion Council has announced the seventeen recipients of this season’s NEWGEN sponsorship, which provides various levels of funding and mentorship to emerging U.K. designers (somewhat like a British version of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund). The prizes, which are sponsored by Topshop, include financial assistance for the designers to show their spring/summer 2012 collections. Those receiving the highest level of sponsorship will get funding for a catwalk show; meanwhile, the middle tier gets a presentation, and the third and fourth tiers get an installation or exhibition, respectively, in the NEWGEN space at Somerset House in London. Past winners include household names like Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Matthew Williamson, and Erdem.

LONDON FASHION WEEK A/W 2011

When he graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2009, the first celebrities that twigged to David Koma’s architectural, futuristic designs were Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. But today’s more refined and precise collection was perhaps better suited to his two slightly less dramatic but still major front-row gets: Samantha Cameron and Daphne Guinness.

In an overlap with Marc Jacobs and Louise Gray earlier this week, Koma’s starting point was the polka-dot obsession of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. He then had to figure out how to channel it in a modern but feminine way, resulting in a strict and ladylike silhouette. Koma says he tries to challenge himself and experiment every season, and he did just that today. Among the various circular motifs, there were patent leather discs embroidered onto jersey, felt on top of napa leather, wool under laser-cut leather, and photo prints created in collaboration with the contemporary Russian photographer Oleg Dou.

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Posted by People1 on Jul 15 2011. Filed under Fashion Designers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry