Dion Lee debuts menswear at his Australian Fashion Week show

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
May 16, 2017

Opening Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia on Sunday night, womenswear designer Dion Lee debuted a men's capsule collection as part of his Resort 2018 collection, presented at the Opera House in Sydney.

Dion Lee officially opened the five-day fashion bonanza on May 14, ahead of a jam-packed roster of 40 scheduled shows featuring collections from around 50 designers.

A regular on the New York Fashion Week scene, Lee showed around 40 looks from his eponymous label's Resort collection, which featured his signature women's style: sleek, sporty, and tailored, but with an unmistakeable Australian casualness: somewhat Sydney-meets-New York (Lee's new home and studio location).

Under the Opera House sails, Lee's women slunked along in silky tracksuits, cool shirting, terry-towling sweaters and dancing dresses, as well as the Sydney designer's famous soft tailoring: a black double-breasted two-piece oozing elegance under the overcast skies, but summer comfort too, paired with sandals, sans shirt.

Lee's mastery of feminine sporty tailoring meant it was a natural transition into menswear for the 30-year-old Sydneysider. Lee launched down the concrete runway a saccharine blue rain slicker, offset with breezy white pants, a very-wearable bomber jacket and high-neck knitwear and a light grey suit. And again, there was Lee's Resort hallmark, the double-breasted blazer in black, still slouchy and chic, this time for Lee's leading man.

As for distribution, Lee’s menswear will remain a capsule collection within his main line and will be sold across all Dion Lee boutiques  and online, and in specific points-of-sale overseas. No comment was made regarding plans for an official menswear show on the fashion calendar.

Dion Lee launched his namesake label in 2009. Lee's first-ever collection was shown at Australian Fashion Week, and the designer made a name for himself when he became the first designer to put on a catwalk show at the iconic Sydney Opera House a year later, in 2010.