Sunny Saviour

There are few designers in Australia that have a huge hype machine gunning behind them, especially one as large as Dion Lee.  Technically, he's only showed once at RAFW but with the inbetween seasons sandwiched before and after that debut, the momentum has built up to the point where he has now become the hottest ticket of the week with people literally having heart palpitations over what he is about to show.  I spoke way too soon when I first met Dion last year in Paris and talked about his A/W 10 collection and said that it was unlikely I would be in Australia to see his show.  Well I arrived over the weekend and ended up at his doorstep on Sunday afternoon to take a peek at his collection (like I've been doing with my RAFW hitlist…) to see how his aesthetic has progressed.  

I pretty much came out buzzing with excitement, geared up about a show that now has been called the one that 'saved' RAFW.  I'm not going to be as disparaging as that but I will go the majority and say that it was a stellar standout.  That said, my favourites such as Ellery, Karla Spetic and Romance was BOrn have all proposed very differing styles that in the context of fashion week, makes them each stand out on their own and I'm sort of glad that I have discovered that polar opposite diversity can be found at RAFW.

Back to Dion though… at first glance at the near-complete rail of clothing, it was immediately apparent that Dion had softened up a little.  Maybe a lot.  Everything from the colours which brightened up to a fresh palette of pastels in addition to deeper hues of blue and purple to the fabrics to the construction made for a less strict silhouette.

This is controlled looseness though and the 'flow' of each ensemble is still highly informed by Dion's own sensibility towards architectural lines.  On every garment, your eyes would draw lines making triangles, hexagons and of course, HEAPS of symmetry.  Fyi, I've noticed I've been heavily using this word this week in a specifically Aussie accent… so sad…

A fresh injection of texture in the collection started off with these honeycomb laser-cut rubber and neoprene  panels that fit over a waistcoat which in turn was pair with a honeycomb patterned mesh shirt.

The metal detailing seen in larger quantities in the previous collection returns as subtle motifs on shirt collars.  

 

A sensibility for summer colours and ultimately, the sun-drenched climate of Australia, is seen in these Rosachach ink blot test-inspired prints where black has been replaced with seeping vivid colours that blur into watery hues.   

 

 

Then came the series of dresses that would make people physically gasp at the show… these interlocked concertina pleat dresses.  Dion Lee does this with such an immense amount of precision that each section of pleat is sculpted around the body perfectly.  I love that the pleats are also taut in all the right places but then left to fall in all the right places as well and that the folds are exposed at varying degrees of proximity. 

 

This heel isn't moulded or casted.  They're 100% homegrown crystals… I don't know how this is even done because I haven't grown anything since last summer when I thought a herb garden was a good idea (they were dead by September…). 

Gotta love the 'Vogue' box that these heels have been growing in too…

We then get to the most immense part of Dion's show that doesn't involve clothes… fast forward to the day of the show and we're at the Sydney Opera House.  It's the first time ever that an Australian designer has shown here and you pretty much couldn't ask for a more picture perfect venue.  I've been saying that looking at the building all week has been re-invigorating my spirits and on this particular day, facing it up close and then entering the foyer, I was nothing but awestruck.  Perhaps it was intentional that the lines of the interior, the exterior should echo Dion's own deft ways with fabric architecture…

 

 

Yes, there was this much sun coming in which alas, rendered a lot of my pictures of the clothes overly light filled but that's how I saw it… even with my squinted eyes, though the shapes, the colours and the overall spirit of the collection literally SHONE…

From the opening ensemble of the honeycomb mesh pieces, it then proceeded into subtle tailoring that definitely showed a softer evolution from Dion, which then lightened up further with the inkblot prints.  Then those pleats came swinging out and that was a gasping moment.  Quite rightly, everyone I've spoken to has not stopped raving about those pieces.  What was more impressive was that despite the amount of work that has gone into the collection, nothing ever came off looking overwrought or overworked – a danger when designers run away with architecture, concept and technique.  The clothes breezed about in the sunlight showing why intrinsically, Dion IS an Australian designer that is reinterpreting the way his environment affects him.  I'm probably speaking too soon when I say Dion will move onto an international platform soon and perhaps he's not after that kind of exposure yet.  Still, I couldn't help but be dazzled and wonder about his future - sun or no sun…