Croatia’s Damir Doma delivers earnest menswear fit for a wandering hermit

Beduins, sadhus, assorted hermits hit Doma catwalk

PARIS — The men on Damir Doma’s spring-summer 2011 show Saturday looked like ascetics who’d stumbled upon the catwalk during their hermetic wanderings.

The Croatian designer culled from different religious traditions, pairing his signature voluminous trenches and wide-cut blazers with dhotis that looked snatched off a Hindu sadhu or North African harem pants in earthy fibers. The cocoon coats, some in Franciscan brown, resembled a monk’s robes.

Doma swathed the models in nubby fringed blankets, making them look alternately like Hindu aesthetics or Bedouin nomads. Muslim skullcaps topped all the looks, giving some of the models the air madrassa students.

It was an earnest and convincing display from a designer who’s widely considered among Paris’ most promising new talents.