David Koma has been obsessed with Pedro Almodóvar’s films for a very long time. “All About My Mother” was the inspiration behind his very first collection — at age 14. For this season, he rewatched “Talk To Her” and “Volver” and was moved to explore Spanish dance, specifically the dynamic flamenco, as the starting point for his spring offering.
Koma put his own, minimal, all-out sexy spin on the drama, ruffled skirts and polka dots associated with the dance, refining ruffles into structural peplums and translating dots into sheer spot mesh or shimmery plexi embellishments, which winked along the edges of shoulder seams, cutouts and hemlines.
Carmen Amaya, the late Romani flamenco dancer who would wear trousers in her performances to emphasize movement, was the inspiration behind the lineup’s terrific trousers. Also calling to mind styles worn by matadors, they were cut high on the waist, with a soft flare created by split hems.
You May Also Like
His palette, as always, was on the noir side, freshened by white and lilac. Pieces in neon yellow or bright green looked better head-to-toe rather than paired with or trimmed in black, which made those looks seem a bit labored.
Unusually for such a specific reference, the best looks here were those that were more literal. For instance, the white spotted tulle Tee with a cascading ruffle worn over narrow black pants, or the black dresses with bouncy crepe frills and sheer mesh inserts, and the sheer dresses with embroidered stripes, one lilac and another black, that had crepe peplum hems and terrific movement on the runway.
A lineup of literally dazzling gowns, the first he has shown on the runway, looked great in ombré plexi chainmail that faded from green to platinum or from black through to violet and green.