David Koma Spring Summer 2023 at London Fashion Week

It may be hard to imagine today, but the gasoline-stained streets that surround the Shoreditch studio of David Koma where the designer stages his Spring-Summer 2023 show, once played backdrop to the work of William Shakespeare.

In 1576, he put on his first play in the recently-excavated The Theatre in New Inn Broadway. Inspired by its history, Koma often pictures the creative displays that unfolded in the streets we take for granted. In this cool, arid East London cityscape, his imagination is moved by the enchantment of everyday occurrences: the oily, iridescent colour formations of petrol on the pavement. They trigger his fantasy and transport his mind to underwater marvels: the neon-like rainbow hues of translucent creatures that light up in the dark of the deep sea, illuminated by the crystalised shimmer of shells and starfish.

This season, a conversation between accidental and environmental beauty informs a collection founded in the clash and harmony between the natural and the cultural. The gasoline motif inspires a focus on garments connected to motorsports – biker jackets, denim trousers, cowboy boots – while its subaquatic associations generate a study of the uniforms of water-sports – scuba suits and lycra swimwear – with nods to images of Dr Sylvia Earle and her Tektite II team, the first all-female divers to spend fourteen days underwater in 1970.

“It was completely dark, except for the flash, sparkle and glow of the bioluminescent creatures who make their own kind of firefly light,” Dr Sylvia Earle once remarked. “It was like gliding into another galaxy.”

This stream of associations sets the tone for a collection adorned in under-the-sea surface decoration, which also enters into the construction of certain garments. Starfish are evoked in colourful crystal embroidery, oyster shells materialise through iridescent crystals and the tentacles of octopi are manifested in mirrored plexi glass. Black embellished waves ripple around the body creating organic ocean patterns.

Fishhooks replace the traditional flame inserts on biker jackets and re-appear as chainmail cut-out dresses. Petrol-inspired prints feature on asymmetrically-cut tops and dresses in silk-stretch mesh, while hand-woven macramé tops and skirts evoke fisherman’s knots. Treasure-like silver and gold sea shells cluster together forming statement necklaces. A nod to golden sand appears in the tone of a billowing summer trench and soft cashmere knits. A series of dresses structured in electric Klein blue cords are garlanded with super lightweight plume, mimicking the buoyance of the deep blue sea.