Dion Lee
At just 24, Dion Lee has three standout shows at Australian Fashion Week under his belt. In a short space of time, Dion Lee has roused excitement and set a new standard that is unrivalled by designers of his age and experience, implying a talent that is largely inherent and an intuition for creating women’s garments that are incredibly organic whilst also modern and progressive.
Dion Lee studied Fashion Design at the Sydney Institute of Technology, where he graduated in 2007. Experimenting with fabric, shape and cut, he is greatly inspired by the construction of garments and as such, his collections focus primarily on innovative pattern and cut. Often woven and intertwined, Dion Lee’s garments achieve structured yet fluid tailoring, transparency and opacity. Functional detailing is added to achieve a modern balance of innovation and wearability.
Most recently Dion held his second solo show at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week on Thursday May 6 at the Sydney Opera House. The iconic buildings impressive architecture and incredible outlook providing the perfect location for Lee’s progressive, modern vision. Lee showed a pre spring/summer 2011 collection that explored the tension between something controlled and something subconscious and less inhibited. Traditional tailoring techniques were appropriated, exposing the internal structure of the garment. Horsehair elements became a layered synthetic mesh collage that weaved in and out of the internal garment and scaffolded the body. Lee also worked strongly with print for the first time, using Rorschach inkblot prints to wrap and contour the body, mirroring the bones beneath them with layered transparencies in ultraviolet colouring. The collection’s final part compromised dresses that used visceral pleating knots and harnesses with soft sculptural fluidity.
The show resulted in international acclaim and coverage from the likes of Style.com, Vogue.com, Dazed Digital and Jak & Jill. Said Tim Blanks of Style.com, "There’s the Week, and then there’s Dion Lee…"Everything about it was incredible … the number of models, the way each idea was explored just the right amount."
Dion Lee has been the recipient of the Prix de Marie Claire Award for Best Up and Coming Designer (2009) and also winner of the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Designer Award (2010).
In spite of the buzz and excitement surrounding Dion Lee, the designer remains humble and dedicated to his work, an attitude that has him unwittingly rallying support and summoning enthusiasm from all corners of the industry. Dion’s vision strikes a balance of modern yet classic, a thoroughly exciting designer now on the international radar.
www.dionlee.com
