EXCLUSIVE: Dion Lee A/W12 Film

Showing outside of his native Australia for the first time this season, Dion Lee follows his London Fashion Week debut with an eerie short film. Directed by Lorin Askill, the clip sees model Ruby Jean Wilson breathe life into Lee’s pieces in more ways than one, as we found out when the designer went into detail about the idea behind the showcase…

It explores the core concept, which is breathing, in a really abstract way. I liked the idea of focusing on the breath and this more inward exploration of how breathing and the movement of your body are linked

“The film was an additional layer to visually describe the concept of the collection in a way that was not possible in the presentation. For me, it gives you the feel for the collection and is probably the most undiluted representation of my ideas. It explores the core concept, which is breathing, in a really abstract way. I liked the idea of focusing on the breath and this more inward exploration of how breathing and the movement of your body are linked.

The film was an additional layer to visually describe the concept of the collection in a way that was not possible in the presentation

The 'high vis' fabrics reflect the light and delete the figure completely, which leaves the images with negative space. In flat light these appear metallic, however with a flash or spotlighting in a dark space it creates an Xray-like outline. The fringing has been draped and arranged in vein like compositions, to reflect this. We also adapted a few techniques such as faggoting, to allow sections of garments to appear suspended by light. The starting point when designing the collection, was again, this idea of breathing. I wanted all of the pieces to feel quite porous and lung-like, using fabrics such as tulle and silk mesh.”