David Koma at Mugler and Blumarine: The Two Other Houses, Explained
David Koma at Mugler and Blumarine: The Two Other Houses, Explained
Two of the most searched questions about David Koma are not about David Koma dresses at all. They are about the other houses: what he did at Mugler between 2013 and 2017, and what he is doing at Blumarine now. Both matter to a shopper because the London label is where those years show up in cloth. This page sets out the two tenures from the trade press, what each brought back to the own-label collections, and which pieces at Luxury Handbags carry the fingerprints.
Key facts
- Mugler: named artistic director of the Clarins-owned Paris house in December 2013; ran it alongside his own label from London and Paris until December 2017, when Casey Cadwallader took over.
- Blumarine: announced as creative director on 31 July 2024 by the house’s owner Exelite, succeeding Walter Chiapponi (one collection) and Nicola Brognano (four years); first collection pre-fall 2025, shown in Milan.
- Blumarine under Koma so far: resort 2026 on the Aeolian Islands, spring 2026 with butterflies and dragonflies on tulle, pre-fall 2026 in Baroque Venice, fall 2026 in Milan built on “glamour as a form of power”.
- The David Koma label kept its own calendar throughout: spring 2026 in October 2025, pre-fall 2026 in January 2026, fall 2026 at London Fashion Week in March 2026.
- Neither Mugler nor Blumarine is stocked at Luxury Shoes ; the David Koma pieces below are the London label only.
The Mugler years, 2013 to 2017
Thierry Mugler’s house had been revived under Nicola Formichetti with Lady Gaga as its public face, and in December 2013 the Clarins group, which owns the brand, handed the ready-to-wear to Koma with the title of artistic director. He was 28 and four years into his own label. The arrangement lasted four years and eight collections, and it was a good match on paper: Mugler stood for the cinched waist, the hard shoulder and what Vogue later called the house’s “techno-sexuality”, and Koma’s own signature was already the body-contouring dress. What he did with it, in Vogue’s account of the handover to Cadwallader, was make Mugler “a mainstay of the after-dark scene, the place to shop for slinky, strong separates for a night out”, which is a fair description of what his own label was selling in London at the same time.
The traffic ran both ways. Billboard, interviewing him in his London studio during the Mugler period, noted that Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez had become fans of the designer and that “the precision of his tailoring is second to none”, and it is the tailoring that stayed. The London collections since 2018 have carried a Paris-trained shoulder: the Structured Sleeve Tailored Jacket, the Tailored Bodysuit and the Double Pleated Tailored Trousers of pre-fall 2026 are the Mugler years continued by other means. So is the bodysuit as a serious garment, which the Star Rhinestone Bodysuit treats as eveningwear rather than underwear.
“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.
Blumarine, from 2024
Blumarine is a different problem. The Carpi house founded by Anna Molinari in 1977 stands for romantic Italian femininity, roses, knitwear, the butterfly, and it had been through two creative directors in quick succession when Marco Marchi of Exelite, its owner, appointed Koma on 31 July 2024. Marchi said Koma’s aesthetic had “captured me from the beginning” and that he would “interpret Blumarine’s codes to perfection” with “an overwhelming femininity”. The first collection was pre-fall 2025, and the reviews of the seasons since describe a designer bringing his own vocabulary to the house rather than abandoning it: a resort 2026 collection shot on the Aeolian Islands, a spring 2026 show that put butterflies and dragonflies on georgette and tulle, a pre-fall 2026 set in Baroque Venice, and a fall 2026 show in Milan in February 2026 built on the idea of a diva “for whom glamour is a form of power”.
For a Koma customer the useful question is what Blumarine has done to the London label, and the honest answer so far is: sharpened it. The own-label fall 2026 collection, shown three weeks after the Blumarine one, was almost without colour, “pure white, milky tones, taupe and ecru”, with corsetry framing the body and feathers used as structure. That is Koma reserving the romance for Milan and keeping London for the hard line. The pieces at Luxury Handbags sit on the London side: the Crystal Leaf Corset Top, the Double Pleated Organza Trousers and the white Crystal Pendant Halterneck Gown are the closest things in stock to that monochrome fall mood.
“By refusing color this season, I had the chance to pay more attention to the texture and every little gesture,” David Koma told WWD of his fall 2026 collection in March 2026, describing the woman he cut it for as “elegant and timeless with austerity and quiet power. This is how a modern femme fatale looks in my eyes for this winter.”
How to tell the three houses apart
A Mugler dress of the Koma era is a Paris label with a French sizing convention and the Mugler name on the neck tape. A Blumarine piece is Italian-made and Italian-sized, with the Blumarine label. A David Koma piece is labelled David Koma, sized on the UK ladder, and the current pieces carry a style code on the care label in the house format, the season and year followed by DK and a number, so PF26DK for pre-fall 2026. The authentication page shows how to read it. If a resale listing describes a “David Koma for Mugler” dress, it is a Mugler dress from 2014 to 2017 and should be priced as one.
Frequently asked questions
Did David Koma design for Mugler?
Yes. He was artistic director of Mugler ready-to-wear from December 2013 to December 2017, appointed by the Clarins group, and ran it alongside his own London label until Casey Cadwallader succeeded him.
Is David Koma the creative director of Blumarine?
Yes. Blumarine announced his appointment on 31 July 2024. His first collection was pre-fall 2025 and he showed fall 2026 at Milan Fashion Week in February 2026.
Who designed Blumarine before David Koma?
Walter Chiapponi for one collection, and before him Nicola Brognano for four years; the house was founded by Anna Molinari in 1977 and is owned by the Exelite group.
Does Luxury Handbags sell Mugler and Blumarine?
No. Neither house is stocked at Luxury Shoes . The David Koma collection at Luxury Handbags is the designer’s own London label.
Is David Koma still showing his own label?
Yes. The David Koma label showed spring 2026 in October 2025, pre-fall 2026 in January 2026 and fall 2026 at London Fashion Week in March 2026, alongside his Blumarine work.
What did David Koma bring from Mugler to his own label?
Tailoring. The structured shoulder, the tailored bodysuit and the pleated trouser in the London collections date from the Paris years, and the press of the time singled out his precision tailoring.
Read next
Read the David Koma timeline, who is David Koma and the tailoring guide. 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?, History timeline, Size guide, Price guide, Where to buy, Sale, Review, Real vs fake, Materials and care, Glossary, 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
- 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)
- Vogue, 5 December 2017: Casey Cadwallader succeeds Koma at Mugler, with the description of Koma’s Mugler years
- Billboard: David Koma on dressing Beyonce and his plans for Mugler (Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez as fans, the tailoring)
- WWD, 9 March 2026: the fall 2026 review (“Elegant and Untouchable”, “fragility and structure”, corsetry and feathers, the designer quoted)
- Luxury Handbags live catalogue, 18 September 2026: prices, sizes and stock
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