Who Is David Koma? The Georgian Designer Behind the London Crystal Dress
Who Is David Koma? The Georgian Designer Behind the London Crystal Dress
David Koma is the London house behind the sculpted, crystal-scattered evening dress that photographs from the back row. Beyonce wore it before anyone else did, Taylor Swift wore it on The Graham Norton Show in October 2025, and in between it has dressed most of the women who get photographed for a living. The designer is Georgian, trained at Central Saint Martins, and has also run two other houses, Mugler and now Blumarine, without the London label losing its shape. This is the short version of who he is, what the house makes, who owns it, what it costs and what to buy first.
Key facts
- David Koma is the working name of Davit Komakhidze, a Georgian fashion designer born in Tbilisi who moved to Saint Petersburg as a child and to London in 2003 for Central Saint Martins; he graduated with a distinction in MA Fashion in April 2009 under Professor Louise Wilson.
- The label launched in London straight after graduation in 2009 and has shown at London Fashion Week ever since; it won the Vauxhall Fashion Scout Merit Award in 2009, NEWGEN support in 2010, Fashion Forward in 2013 and the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund in 2020.
- He was creative director of Mugler in Paris from December 2013 to December 2017 while running his own house, and has been creative director of Blumarine in Milan since 31 July 2024, with his first collection for pre-fall 2025.
- The house describes its aesthetic as “seductive, feminine and timeless”: ultra body-contouring silhouettes, couture-like hand embroidery, cut-outs, corsetry, feathers and crystal, expanded into denim, leather, tailoring and knitwear.
- Luxury Handbags carries 365 David Koma styles in stock, sized on the UK ladder, at $520 to $10,468, median $3,270; of the 257 pieces whose factory the brand states, 200 are made in the United Kingdom, 21 in Turkey (the denim) and 13 in China (the knits).
A child who drew dresses
The biography the house publishes is unusually specific for a fashion brand, and it is worth taking at face value because the press has repeated it for fifteen years without contradiction. Koma was born in Tbilisi and, by his own account, was drawing dresses at eight. His family moved to Saint Petersburg when he was nine, and he studied fine art there, entering design competitions from thirteen and showing a first collection at fifteen. In 2003 he moved to London for Central Saint Martins, first the BA and then the MA under Louise Wilson, the professor who also taught Alexander McQueen and Christopher Kane. He graduated with a distinction in April 2009 and won a Harrods Design Award at Graduate Fashion Week the same year, which is roughly the point at which the story stops being a biography and becomes a brand.
What made the graduate collection travel was one dress. Beyonce wore a piece from it to the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2009, the first celebrity to wear the label, and she has come back to it since for the “Be Alive” performance at the 2022 Academy Awards and for looks on the Renaissance World Tour in 2023. A designer who dresses Beyonce at 24 does not get to be an emerging talent for long, and the awards followed quickly: Vauxhall Fashion Scout in 2009, NEWGEN in 2010, Fashion Forward in 2013. The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund came in 2020 after shortlists in 2018 and 2019.
What the house makes
The house line is “ultra body-contouring”, and the clothes bear it out. The core is the sculpted evening dress in stretch cady, satin and jersey, cut close through the bust and waist and then finished with something that catches light: glass crystal embroidery, lace and 3D flowers, feathers, sequins, plexi. The Cactus Dahlia Detail Gown and the Crystal Leaf Corset Top are the current statements of that idea, and the Crystal Star And Straps Midi Dress is the version most customers actually buy. Around the dresses sits a real wardrobe now: tailored trousers and jackets in wool, 3D-flower denim made in Turkey, leather, knit dresses from China, bodysuits and organza tops/shirt/" class="cvx-al cvx-al--category">shirts. The prices at Luxury Handbags run from $520 for a printed T-shirt to $10,468 for a crystal-leaf jacket, with dresses concentrated between $1,243 and $9,730 and a median of $3,499.
Two things separate a Koma dress from its imitators. The first is construction: the house makes most of the range in the United Kingdom, in small runs, and lines the cady and satin pieces so that a cut-out sits flat rather than gaping. The second is placement. The embellishment is never all over; it is put where the eye lands first, at a neckline, a hip, one shoulder, and the rest of the dress is left plain to carry it. The crystal dresses and the cut-out dresses show the two halves of that method.
Mugler, then Blumarine
In December 2013 the Clarins group named Koma artistic director of Mugler, the Paris house founded by Thierry Mugler, and he held the job until December 2017, when Casey Cadwallader replaced him. He ran the two labels at once from London and Paris, and the Mugler years are visible in the London collections that followed: sharper shoulders, harder tailoring, the bodysuit as a serious garment. On 31 July 2024 Blumarine, the Italian house now owned by the Exelite group, announced him as creative director, succeeding Walter Chiapponi. His first Blumarine collection was pre-fall 2025, and by fall 2026 he was showing it in Milan while still showing his own label in London. The Mugler and Blumarine page covers both tenures in detail.
Who wears it
The house names Beyonce, Kendall Jenner, Dua Lipa, Jennifer Lopez, Anne Hathaway and Blackpink on its own About page, and the press record supports each. Dua Lipa wore looks three and sixteen from Resort 2022 in 2021; Kendall Jenner wore a sheer Koma dress in Miami in December 2019; all four members of Blackpink wore Koma at Coachella in April 2023; Florence Pugh wore a resort 2025 T-shirt minidress with a train to Comic-Con in July 2024; Taylor Swift wore a black velvet Koma minidress with a crystal collar on The Graham Norton Show on 3 October 2025. Who wears David Koma lists the appearances with their sources.
What it costs and what to buy
At Luxury Handbags the range runs $520 to $10,468: gowns $1,940 to $8,920, midi dresses $2,020 to $7,286, mini dresses $1,243 to $9,730, tops $520 to $7,568, trousers $1,243 to $7,280. If you want one piece, make it a black dress with a single crystal placement, the Crystal Star And Straps Midi Dress at $4,660 in satin for the midi length and the Crystal Star Draped Mini Dress at $4,220 in jersey for the mini: both are the house signature at its most wearable. If you already own the black dress, the Crystal Leaf Tie Waist Jacket is the piece that turns trousers into an evening. The price guide sets out every band.
“I imagine her as a 21st-century femme fatale,” David Koma told British Vogue when the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund named him its 2020 winner. “Every decade has its own sense of modernity and glamour.”
Frequently asked questions
Who is David Koma?
David Koma, born Davit Komakhidze in Tbilisi, is a Georgian fashion designer based in London. He founded his own womenswear house in 2009 after a Central Saint Martins MA, ran Mugler from 2013 to 2017, and has been creative director of Blumarine since July 2024.
What nationality is David Koma?
Georgian. He was born in Tbilisi, grew up partly in Saint Petersburg, and has lived in London since 2003, where the brand is based.
Is David Koma still designing his own brand?
Yes. The David Koma label showed pre-fall 2026 in January 2026 and fall 2026 at London Fashion Week in March 2026 while he also designs Blumarine in Milan.
What is David Koma known for?
Body-contouring evening dresses with couture-style embellishment: glass crystal embroidery, 3D lace flowers, feathers, sequins and precise cut-outs, plus the tailoring and denim that grew around them.
Where are David Koma clothes made?
Mostly in the United Kingdom. Of the 257 pieces at Luxury Handbags whose factory the brand states, 200 are made in the UK, 21 in Turkey (the denim) and 13 in China (the knitwear).
Who owns David Koma?
The label is independent and designer-led; the company trades as David Koma Ltd in London. Blumarine, which he also designs, is owned by the Italian group Exelite.
How much does a David Koma dress cost?
At Luxury Shoes , dresses run $1,243 to $9,730 with a median of $3,499; gowns start at $1,940 and the crystal and cactus-dahlia gowns reach $8,920.
Read next
Read the David Koma timeline, is David Koma a luxury brand and the David Koma review. 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, History timeline, 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
- 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
- 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)
- British Vogue, 3 August 2009: David Koma wins the Vauxhall Fashion Scout Merit Award
- Interview magazine, 19 September 2011: “Child Star: David Koma” (drawing dresses at eight, the Saint Petersburg years)
- Billboard: David Koma on dressing Beyonce and his plans for Mugler (Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez as fans, the tailoring)
- Evening Standard, 13 December 2022: David Koma on living in Shoreditch
- Luxury Handbags live catalogue, 18 September 2026: prices, sizes and stock
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