Dion Lee has been on a sexy streak since 2018 or so, finding ways to fuse his architecturally minded clothing with a provocative body consciousness. His square-neck jersey corset tops have been a retail hit, as have his cutaway dresses, worn by the likes of Gigi Hadid and Gwyneth Paltrow. For spring 2021, for the first time in a long time, Lee is softening up his geometric take on sex appeal in favor of an organic reflection of nature’s curves.
His biophilic collection was inspired by New York City’s designation as a tropical climate—the result of global warming. Anyone who buckled down in NYC through the pandemic’s first wave knows that the humidity is unmatched, and so in a Bushwick warehouse, Lee and friends set up a veritable greenhouse filled with his green, leafy clothing. The most literal homage to flora is a molded leather top inspired by a Monstera leaf. He’s testing out new experiments with knotting and macramé too, tying up dresses and trousers for a look that feels very aughts—and very now. The knee-high macramé boots are codesigned by Lee with Fashion, the model and designer who closed his last show.
Elsewhere he has developed an ikat camouflage print that feels a little heavy compared with other pieces that cling and wrap around the body. Lee’s at his best when he leans into the more provocative parts of his oeuvre. In these weird times, something both snuggly and sexy has a lot of appeal.
