Four days after a London Fashion Week show, most designers would have long ago given up on sleep, working all day and surviving on a diet of black coffee and Haribos.
So it was a quieter scene than I expected at David Koma’s Shoreditch headquarters, which housed an office, design studio and workshop. The team was busy, but no one seemed stressed.
Neither does Koma himself: “It’s a new me,” he says. “I’m trying to enjoy the ride.”
And what a ride it has been. The Tbilisi, Georgia-born designer has dressed Adele, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and Rihanna. Beyoncé wears Koma on the cover of her new single /Texas Hold ‘Em/. At the Baftas after-party last Sunday night, Florence Pugh, Poppy Delevingne and Mary Charteris all wore Koma. Not bad for someone who has never actively attracted celebrity attention.
“Celebrities… It’s something that came very naturally to me as an artist, as a brand. It has never been my focus,” he says. This has been the case since the beginning. Koma came to London in 2003 to study at Central Saint Martin’s, where he was identified as a potential star and mentored by the legendary late professor Louise Wilson. A sketch of the looks from his 2009 MA show, with her notes scribbled in pencil, is framed and waiting to be hung on the wall of his office. The second half of his surname, Komakhidze, was also written down by him, he explains.
That graduate collection won a slew of awards, putting his talent in the spotlight – enough to put him on the radar of some major celebrity stylists. Within a few months, Beyoncé had worn a David Koma dress to the MTV Europe Music Awards, Cheryl Cole had worn one The X Factor, “and then it was Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Kylie Minogue and a bunch of other people,” he recalls. “[The collection] consisted of only nine dresses [and] we have nine great people. And it never stopped.”
His relationship with Beyoncé is probably the one he is most proud of. He appreciates her attention to detail. “She’s so obsessive about everything,” he says. Nothing is signed off without her agreement: ‘She really cares a lot. And actually what I love about her is that I’ve been working with her for so many years, and she works with multiple stylists, but they come back to me, so I believe that comes from her.
He designed several looks for her Renaissance tour, including an iridescent leather outfit that made headlines. “When it comes to working on a tour, the technical part is important,” he explains. “For certain looks, like the iridescent one, we knew she would wear it during a part of the performance that is quite active… You have to use certain metal zippers that are strong, and even if you’re wearing super high boots, you have to make sure they don’t move or slide down. You add special ribs.
‘You do hair and you also do dancers. So it has to be cohesive… Some of the looks she wears require her to really be in control, but I think in this particular look she can just be herself and dance.”
His favorite Beyoncé moment so far? When she opened the Oscars two years ago with a performance of ‘Be Alive’, taken from the soundtrack of King Richardthe biopic of Richard Williams, father of tennis champions Venus and Serena.
Beyoncé performed in Compton, California, on the court where the sisters trained as children, wearing a tennis ball-inspired neon dress that Koma made for her. He didn’t expect it to be worn in this context. “We were already working on the [Renaissance] touring,” he explains. “We were working on a lot of things, so I didn’t really know what would appear where.”
The fact that Koma is a tennis nut made it all the more important. “It was funny because my father really wanted me to be a tennis player. And I thought: that’s not going to happen. So he allowed me to make art. When this happened, I called him and said, ‘Does that count, that I won the prize? [fashion] Grand Slam?'”
Koma has great respect for stylists, the architects of these celebrity looks. “There are so many publicists, so many opinions. It is not an easy job to be a stylist,” he says. “They have to earn the celebrity’s trust and then convince the designers to be brave and be part of your vision.”
Each look is the result of a broader team effort: “It’s clear that the dress is one thing, then the stylist, then this synergy between the stylist, hair and make-up, and the relevance of the message and the momentum – everything must together it should be a successful red carpet moment.” he says. “Maybe the same dress on the same girl wouldn’t be as ‘wow’ if it was a month before or after, but some manage to be super relevant at that moment and have the best team around to achieve it.”
Koma’s celebrity following means his label has never really been out of the spotlight, but has really gained popularity over the past four years. Previously he had worked on various projects, including a four-year stint as creative director at Thierry Mugler, so his own label lacked his undivided attention. “I decided okay, basta, it is time to really focus,” he said of this turning point. “We did a few things, like changing investors, preparing a new one [business] planning, strengthening the team – and then Covid happened.”
For another occasionwear brand, this might have been the kiss of death, but Koma achieved the seemingly impossible and grew its business fourfold during the pandemic, largely driven by dress sales. “People said it’s not possible. For me, luxury is like chocolate; No matter what, people still want it.
The appeal lies in the powerful nature of his designs that celebrate the contours of the female body, a kind of armor for women who set the agenda. “I always had this idea of this superwoman,” he says. “Several collections are inspired by different incredible women. Somehow… they sense it and then they come back [because] there is a chemistry.”
Contact sheets from previous collections hang on the walls of his office. Last season was inspired by Marlene Dietrich, he says. The next one, before autumn, was inspired by Truman Capote’s Swans – perfect timing, considering the upcoming release of Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.
Ultimately he always returns to the same starting point. “I always want to get the best out of the body and give the wearer confidence and strength,” he explains. “Because, yes, people are quite beautiful.”