After some soul-searching in transition limbo, Blumarine has appointed a new creative director. Georgia-born designer David Koma will showcase his first collection for pre-fall; spring was crafted by the in-house team.
Inspired by the fluidity of water and by Nick Knight’s dreamlike blurred images of rose blooms, the collection read as a more streamlined take on the brand’s signature girly look. The aquatic theme somehow washed away the saccharine, introducing a slightly boho tone that, while giving off a soupçon of Chloé, felt fresh and au courant. Ethereal fabrics billowed and flowed, rendered into voluminous see-through asymmetrical blouses with trailing scarves or into tiered hand-pleated minidresses; they’ll look their best promenading on the beach on a very windy day.
To offset the overall liquid lightness, slim craquelé leather pants, laced all the way up, were introduced as a formfitting antidote to the diaphanous billows of chiffon and georgette. Fringes alluded to the flow of water, often interspersed with crystal drops and tiny metallic roses; swaying from the ultrashort hems of a translucent sequined minidress or pareo skirts, they replaced the fluffy trimmings of feathers and marabou. The color palette had a sun-bleached sheen, as if dried after a swim, while floral bouquets appliquéd on languid slip dresses hinted at shells gathered haphazardly from the shore. Even the signature leopard spots appeared in a tenuous, washed-out form, as if reimagined for a new breed of felines: the Blumarine aquatic leopard.
