Straight up, this was a good-looking collection. This season, Dion Lee set to one side the formal ambition that typically characterizes his work and focused squarely on making desirable clothes. There was rigor in the details, to be sure, but these looks impressed mostly with their sensuousness, thanks to Lee’s emphasis on rich texture and color.
As the designer explained at an appointment today, his starting point was outerwear: Pre-Fall is the one season where he concentrates on coats, he said, and thus he wanted to make the most of the opportunity. That he did. His bombers in bouclé or shearling were top-grade, sharply cut despite their oversizing. Curly wool accents added to the appeal. Elsewhere, Lee’s elegant wrap and slip dresses in silk velvet competed with the outerwear in their richness.
Daywear found Lee playing with sporty elements—track striping, for instance—as well as military aesthetics less usual for him. One especially nice touch was the way he featured his military-inspired hardware through the collection, carrying it from lightweight parkas to unfussy evening looks in a substantial silk. It wasn’t a showy effect, just a bit of punctuation. The cozy bouclé-like knits and pieces in chenille demonstrated a similar sense of restraint, letting the texture do the talking. The clothes spoke quietly, but they made their point.
