Damir Doma to show Damir Doma x Lotto collection at Pitti Uomo, plans Shanghai store opening

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Nov 23, 2017

Croatian designer Damir Doma will not feature on the Milanese catwalks this season, and opted instead for a special presentation in Florence, at the start of renowned menswear show Pitti Uomo. Last year, the designer's eponymous label staged a mixed gender show at the Milan menswear Fashion Week, but it is now switching to a new format, showcasing in Florence the new collection created with Italian sportswear label Lotto.

The collaboration between Damir Doma, 30, and Lotto, began last season with a complete Spring/Summer 2018 collection for men and women. It featured 28 items, including t-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, water-proof jackets, overcoats and sneakers. All of the collection's looks were featured at the Damir Doma show in Milan last June.

With the second Damir Doma x Lotto collection, for the Autumn/Winter 2018-19, the designer - who was a special guest at Pitti Uomo in June 2013 - has once again offered his personal take on a sportswear wardrobe, picking through the Lotto archives. The new collection will be unveiled via a video presentation during a cocktail evening on Tuesday 9th January at Florentine multibrand store A Piedi Nudi Nel Parco, followed by an event at the Jaguar club.

This however isn't the only news from the label owned by Damir Doma himself and majority shareholder Jeremy Rocher. Last season, the label also signed a collaboration with Officine Creative, an Italian footwear label whose shoe line was given a boost by Doma.

Damir Doma also broadened its womenswear range with an extra collection called 'Addition', designed to integrate the main women's ready-to-wear collection which is usually introduced with menswear in January and June. Addition consists of 22 daywear looks in lighter fabrics, and allows the label to make its presence felt also during the womenswear fashion week, refreshing and enlarging the range.

This restructuring of the label's range was made possible by the strategy deployed by Damir Doma in 2015, when it moved from Paris to Milan. It was the opportunity to overhaul the company, which at the time suffered from cash flow problems, and which is now led by Jeremy Rocher and co-CEO Gianluca Casile.

After setting up shop in Milan, the label cut down its lines. It notably combined the main Damir Doma ready-to-wear collection with the second line, Silent. Dries Van Noten, Haider Ackermann, Rick Owens and Raf Simons now rank among the label's competitors.

"Coming to Italy was a good decision. Now the company is healthier," the designer told FashionNetwork.com. "All of my main competitors are based in Paris. By moving to Italy, I was able to take a real step forward in production. It is easier here, we are closer to our suppliers, which are based between Brescia, 100 km east of Milan, and Turin."

Showing menswear together with womenswear in one single show at the start of the season, at the men's fashion week, also turned out to be beneficial. "In September, we were always late. Of course, we lost some clients, those who don't come to Milan for the menswear week. But on the whole, we have gained from this [move]," concluded Damir Doma.

The label is currently distributed via nearly 140 multibrand retailers. It closed down the Paris store, but it plans to open one in Shanghai in 2018.