Fashion retail is experiencing a seismic
shift: the audience is global, seasons are increasingly irrelevant and the
rise of social media means consumers don’t want to wait for runway styles.
Designer Dion Lee, the breakthrough star of Australian fashion who has
worked with Kanye West and whose clothes are worn by the likes of Jennifer
Lawrence and Cate Blanchett, understands such challenges better than most.
Lee launched his brand in Sydney — which has opposing seasons to the the
fashion capitals of Europe and North America.
“We’re obviously very conscious of the seasonality differences between
Australia and the northern hemisphere so that’s something that… we design
into,” the 30-year-old tells AFP.
“I think the geography is a challenge. It is not a challenge that is
insurmountable,” adds Lee.
One of his solutions is to ensure his collections — known for their
precision lines, fine tailoring and sculptural forms — have a core which
does
not change regardless of the time of year.
He is not alone — British design house Burberry recently announced it
will
switch to ‘seasonless’ collections, with items suitable for wear year-round
available at its outlets worldwide soon after they appear on the fashion
week
runways.
The rise of online shopping and social media has meant fashion is
having to
adapt away from the traditional seasonal approach, where consumers wait
months
to buy trends from the catwalk.
Lee says: “There’s been a global conversation I suppose about the
relevance
of seasons and how the model has really changed and is starting to evolve
with
the rise of online being so prevalent and e-commerce being a large part of
our
business.”
“I think that it does break down that notion of seasonality because it’s
always one season somewhere in the world. You have designers that are
selling
swimwear 12 months of the year,” he adds.
This approach — and the fact his clothes are available on
internationally
lauded fashion sites such as net-a-porter.com has boosted his global
profile.
Sales in North America — Lee’s biggest foreign market accounting for 35
percent of wholesale — are expected to be up 90 percent in the year to June
30. Asia is also a growing market although currently only accounts for 16
percent of total wholesale sales.
Lee is fresh from Fashion Week Australia, a showcase of the country’s
best
designers which this year centred on ‘resort’ wear — a focus that saw
bikinis
and bright, billowing prints hit the runways at events attended by local
retailers and international buyers.
Held on a rooftop overlooking Sydney, Lee’s collection showed another
side
of fashion and featured sharp-edged suit jackets and full, structured
skirts,
prompting Vogue Australia to praise his “urban inflected shapes and sharps
and
those clever twists and turns in his tailoring”.
The magazine’s editor-in-chief Edwina McCann, says Lee’s aesthetic
appeals
to young, urban customers the world over.
“I think in the modern world it doesn’t really matter as much where a
designer actually comes from,” she says.
“And Dion — and I think many of our designers are benefitting from that
now — that their clothes are appealing to a certain customer who is global
rather than national.”
He launched his brand of wearable womenswear in 2008 soon after leaving
design school, a move he now jokes was “slightly naive, slightly stupid”.
“Some of my early shows in Sydney were really impactful in terms of
establishing the international profile for the brand,” he says.
He has a fiercely loyal following in Australia and has built up a
reputation in New York and London — even attracting the attention of Kanye
West. The singer reportedly went on to design some shoes for Lee’s UK runway
show in 2012.
Lee says seeing stars such as Blanchett, Lawrence, and singer Selena
Gomez
wearing his clothes is “surreal… especially when it’s people that you
really
respect”.
“But it’s also seeing people that aren’t famous wear your clothes that
you
have respect for,” he adds. “I think there’s something really nice about
seeing women feel empowered when wearing your clothes.”
American Vogue said he had “come of age as a New York fashion
designer” in
a review of his February show during the city’s prestigious fashion week. He
will return there this week for another showcase and spends much of his time
in the city, but Lee still sees himself as an Australian designer.
“Growing up here, going to college here and spending the first years of
my
career here, I think that has definitely had an influence on how I’ve
developed the aesthetic for the brand.” (AFP)
Image: Dion Lee website & Facebook