Blumarine chooses David Koma as creative director

David Koma will be the new creative director of Blumarine, the womenswear brand founded by Anna Molinari that is now part of Exelite, the name under which the €500 million revenue holding of Marco Marchi, owner of Liu Jo, formerly known as Eccellenze Italiane, was recently renamed.

The Georgian designer, who trained at Saint Martins in London, will debut his pre-fall 2025 collection. "David Koma's aesthetic won me over right from the start. I am sure that David will be able to interpret Blumarine's codes to perfection, thanks to his vision and stylistic sensitivity, characterised by an overwhelming femininity," said Marco Marchi, sole director of Exelite.

David Koma, who also has the artistic direction of the Thierry Mugler brand to his credit between 2013 and 2017, founded his own brand (David Koma London) in 2009 and has been a regular feature at London fashion shows ever since. This year, 15 years after its foundation, he chose to show his men's collection for the first time in Milan last June. A first institutional step towards Italy where, from now on, he will work assiduously: "Blumarine embodies a unique combination of sensuality, timeless glamour and elegance that I have always admired, and I am honoured to be able to write the next chapter in the brand's history," said Koma. He added: "I am thrilled to celebrate Blumarine's rich creative heritage by infusing my personal vision into it. I feel particularly akin to Blumarine's feminine aesthetic, and this will make my journey within the brand incredibly authentic. I look forward to creating collections that inspire and captivate our audience, thus creating an exciting era, full of innovation and creativity". With sensual, high-impact creations Koma has already bewitched celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé.

So the 'shock' of the dismissal of Walter Chiapponi seems to have passed: the designer, who had left Tod's precisely to take over as creative director of Blumarine, left the company in March 2024, just a few months after taking up the post and after presenting the autumn-winter 2024/25 collection. Chiapponi, after a difficult personal period (among other things: his friend Davide Renne, creative director of Moschino, passed away suddenly in November 2023), had declared that he wanted to devote himself to humanitarian and social projects before returning to the catwalks in due course. Marco Marchi had described the collaboration with Chiapponi as "an experience that will remain unique at a particular moment in Blumarine's history. I am grateful to Walter Chiapponi for having put so much of himself into this collection, it has been an extraordinary adventure and I wish Walter all the best for the continuation of his journey'. Now, however, it is time to look ahead.