David Koma History: A Dated Timeline From Tbilisi to Blumarine

David Koma has been a London Fashion Week name since 2009, which makes the house older than most of the labels it is compared with and younger than it feels. This is the dated record: the designer’s route from Tbilisi to Central Saint Martins, the year the label launched, the awards, the four years at Mugler, the Blumarine appointment and the collections of 2025 and 2026. Every entry is taken from the brand’s own About page, from Wikipedia’s cited articles, and from WWD’s reports and reviews, each read on the date at the foot of the page.

Key facts

• Born in Tbilisi, Georgia; moved to Saint Petersburg at nine; studied fine art there and showed a first collection at fifteen.
• London from 2003: Central Saint Martins BA then MA Fashion under Louise Wilson, distinction, April 2009, plus a Harrods Design Award at Graduate Fashion Week.
• Label founded in London in 2009; Beyonce wore a graduate-collection dress to the MTV EMAs that year; Vauxhall Fashion Scout Merit Award 2009, NEWGEN 2010, Fashion Forward 2013, BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund 2020.
• Mugler artistic director December 2013 to December 2017; Blumarine creative director from 31 July 2024, first collection pre-fall 2025.
• Recent own-label collections: spring 2026 (October 2025, the “hedonistic fairytale” in a forest), pre-fall 2026 (January 2026, the Supergirl collaboration with the DC archive), fall 2026 (March 2026, “fragility and structure” in white, milk, taupe and ecru).

Timeline

The three eras of the house

Read across the table and the label falls into three periods. The first, 2009 to 2013, is the bodycon decade: the cocktail dress that “propelled the designer onto the international stage”, in the house’s own words, cut in stretch fabrics and scattered with plexi and crystal. The second, 2013 to 2017, is the Mugler period, when the London collections took on the Paris house’s hard shoulders and its taste for the bodysuit and the suit. The third runs from 2018 to now: the Fashion Fund years, the expansion into denim, leather and tailoring, the Blumarine appointment, and a run of collections that treat embellishment as architecture rather than decoration. The pieces at Luxury Handbags are all from the third era, from Resort 2026 onward, and the pre-fall 2026 edit is the most recent of them.

The constant through all three is the silhouette. The Fitted Sequin Gown of pre-fall 2026 is recognisably the same idea as the 2009 graduate dress, a column that follows the body and stops before it becomes a costume. What has changed is the finish: hand embroidery in glass crystal, 3D lace flowers, ostrich feathers declared as a by-product of the food industry, and a lining under almost everything. That is why a Koma dress from 2026 costs what it does, and why the real-versus-fake page can tell you what to look for.

“Blumarine embodies a unique blend of sensuality, timeless glamour and elegance that I always admired, and it is an honor to be able to write the next chapter in the brand’s illustrious history,” David Koma said when WWD reported his appointment as creative director on 31 July 2024.

Frequently asked questions

When was David Koma founded?

In 2009, in London, immediately after the designer graduated from the Central Saint Martins MA in April that year. The label has shown at London Fashion Week every season since.

When did David Koma work at Mugler?

From December 2013 to December 2017 as artistic director, while continuing to design his own label; Casey Cadwallader succeeded him.

When did David Koma join Blumarine?

Blumarine announced him as creative director on 31 July 2024. His first collection for the Italian house was pre-fall 2025 and he showed fall 2026 in Milan in February 2026.

What awards has David Koma won?

The Vauxhall Fashion Scout Merit Award (2009), NEWGEN sponsorship (2010), Fashion Forward (2013) and the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund (2020), after shortlists in 2018 and 2019.

Who was the first celebrity to wear David Koma?

Beyonce, who wore a dress from his graduate collection to the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2009 and has returned to the house for the 2022 Oscars and the Renaissance tour.

Where did David Koma study?

Fine art in Saint Petersburg, then Central Saint Martins in London, where he completed the BA and then the MA in Fashion under Louise Wilson, graduating with a distinction in April 2009.

Read next

Read who is David Koma, David Koma at Mugler and Blumarine and who wears David Koma. Shop the David Koma collection at Luxury Shoes .

More David Koma guides

Every David Koma page by Luxury Shoes ’s fashion editor Gemma Deeks: Is it a luxury brand?, Brands like David Koma, How to wear, Which dress to buy, Who is David Koma?, Size guide, Price guide, Where to buy, Sale, Review, Real vs fake, Materials and care, Glossary, Mugler and Blumarine, Who wears it, Pre-fall 2026 Supergirl edit, Spring-summer 2026 edit, Resort 2026 edit, vs Alexander McQueen, vs Safiyaa, Gowns, Mini dresses, Midi dresses, Tops, Jackets and tailoring, Jeans and denim, Trousers, Skirts, Wedding dresses, Wedding-guest dresses, Crystal dresses, 3D flower and lace, Sequins, Feathers, Cut-outs, Satin and velvet, Corsets, Black, White and ivory, Red and pink, Yellow, blue and green.

Sources and method

Checked on 18 September 2026 by Gemma Deeks, fashion editor at Luxury Shoes . Product facts, the compositions, linings, embroidery fibres, care lines and country of manufacture, are the brand’s own product-page text; counts, prices and price ranges are Luxury Shoes ’s live catalogue on that date and move with stock; the designer’s biography and the house history come from the brand’s own About page and the press articles listed below, each read on the date above; the size chart is the brand’s own. Where a claim could not be checked against one of these it was left out, and where the fitting room is giving its own advice the page says so.

• davidkoma.com, About us: the brand story, the brand vision and the designer biography in the house’s own words
• davidkoma.com, Size guide: the UK, Italy, US, France and Japan conversion chart and the body measurements by UK size
• davidkoma.com, Delivery and returns: dispatch, delivery windows, duties and the 14-day returns window on the brand’s own store
• David Koma product pages: the description, composition, lining, embroidery, care and made-in lines of every style (306 pages saved 18 September 2026)
• David Koma on Wikipedia and its cited articles
• Wikidata Q5236101
• London Fashion Week, designer profile: David Koma
• People, via AOL, 3 October 2025: Taylor Swift in a black velvet David Koma minidress with a crystal collar on The Graham Norton Show
• British Vogue, 3 August 2009: David Koma wins the Vauxhall Fashion Scout Merit Award
• British Vogue, 11 May 2020: the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund winner profile (“a favourite of red-carpet stars from Scarlett Johansson to Michelle Obama”, the “21st-century femme fatale” quote)
• Vogue, 5 December 2017: Casey Cadwallader succeeds Koma at Mugler, with the description of Koma’s Mugler years
• WWD, 31 July 2024: Blumarine names David Koma creative director (Marco Marchi and Koma quoted; Florence Pugh at Comic-Con; the Renaissance tour looks; the 2009 founding)
• British Vogue, 12 October 2021: “Dua Joins The Koma Girl Club” (the Resort 2022 looks and the tenth-anniversary quote)
• British Vogue, 9 December 2019: Kendall Jenner in a sheer David Koma dress in Miami
• WWD, 23 April 2023: Blackpink’s Coachella outfits, with the David Koma pieces on each member
• WWD, 3 October 2025: the spring 2026 review (“Life Is a Party”, the forest, cactus dahlias, the designer quoted)
• WWD, 23 January 2026: the pre-fall 2026 review (“Supergirl in Charge”, the DC archive, the designer quoted)
• WWD, 9 March 2026: the fall 2026 review (“Elegant and Untouchable”, “fragility and structure”, corsetry and feathers, the designer quoted)
• Interview magazine, 19 September 2011: “Child Star: David Koma” (drawing dresses at eight, the Saint Petersburg years)
• Luxury Handbags live catalogue, 18 September 2026: prices, sizes and stock