David Koma Spring/Summer 2014: balancing asymmetric perfections

For his women’s wear offering for Spring/Summer 2014, Georgian-born and London-based fashion designer David Koma found inspiration in the ancient Japanese art of Kyudo (a form of meditation that combines Samurai martial arts and the spiritual dimension of Zen philosophy) and in its underpinning laws of truth, virtue and beauty to engender an elegant and strong warrior woman who is in her charge or her own taste and style by following the principles of balance, stillness and control.

As in Koma’s previous Autumn/Winter 2013 range, the juxtaposition of circular and angular shapes plays a central role towards achieving the ideal of perfect balance. To achieve this, Koma’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection features garments such as tailored dresses and matching separates that interpret the oppositions between verticality and horizontality: conical shapes abound in pleated skirts and A-line dresses, oversized rectangular patch pockets are added to fitted trousers, and asymmetric lines are balanced in the collars of jackets and in the hems of dresses and skirts.

Contrasting fabrics are brought together with the intention to reflect the ways in which they can coexist to create a perfectly balanced and confident silhouette: sheer and yet stiff organza is used to cover exposed shoulders while circumspectly uniting thicker fabrics in the front and back of the torso, and stiff jersey and bonded silk are imbued with structure and volume by heavy leather parts that are strategically positioned as panelling and piping. And to conjure a sense of harmonious personal self-assurance, David Koma presented the collection in an elegant gradation of the colour palette that evolved from black and white, included faded pink and powder blue, and finished with a vibrant shade of Imperial blue in tailored garments whose linearity was further highlighted by sharp laser-cut black leather pieces.