You've probably heard of him; you may even be wearing him – but how much do you actually know about Damir Doma? The unveiling of his resort 2014 collection today seems as good a time as any to find out a bit more.

Doma has been designing for nearly ten years, and under his own name since 2006. He's Croatian-born, grew up in Bavaria, Germany and is now based in Paris. And he studied in Munich and Berlin, before moving to Antwerp to assist Raf Simons for a number of years. Ah, the magic R word. No wonder Doma's rapidly becoming one of fashion's favourites.

But he's still somewhat under the radar, despite having shown in Paris for nearly five years, only branching out from menswear to womenswear in 2010.

 

The fact is, women were wearing Damir Doma long before then. In 2008, the original model off-duty Erin Wasson (responsible for inspiring and styling those achingly hip Alexander Wang shows) told me that he was one of her favourite labels and that she thought he was an exciting new name. Doma rose up through the ranks as a contemporary of Alexander Wang, Proenza Schouler and Christopher Kane, but he remains the lesser known of his fashion class.

Jack Cassidy, buyer for the concept store LN-CC, agrees with Wasson – they bought into Damir Doma heavily in the very early days of his career and the founders are all vigorous supporters of what he's doing. It continues to stock one of the largest selections of Doma's clothing in the UK.

'There's always an earthiness to his clothes,' he explains, 'as well as ethnic and historical references. What was so impressive about him was that he really worked his own point of view, rather than conforming to the westernised ideal. He explored a different way of wearing clothes – and at the time we first bought his pieces, he was a niche brand. It was a brave choice to wear Damir, but now he sits alongside our mainline brands, which is testament to him as a designer.'

The store is also hosting an exclusive archive sale of pieces by Doma at the beginning of next month, which will offer around 50 menswear pieces from the designer's very first collections. And they work just as well on women.

The resort collection he presented yesterday made use of panels and planes of material, swatches of fabrics that sometimes looked like check but veered into clever Op-Art stripes and inserts too. Sportswera detailing met couture in stiffened silk dresses that played volume and proportion.

What began life as label known for minimalist jersey, dark drapery and a sleek but artfully baggy neo-gothic silhouette has come of age, as the designer behind it learns and hones his uniquely sartorial approach. So remember his name.