Dion Lee to Open Australian Fashion Week 2017

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Dion Lee during his Fall 2017 RTW show at New York Fashion Week. Picture / Supplied

One of Australia's top fashion designers Dion Lee, who is now based in New York, will return home in May to open Australian Fashion Week. This morning he was announced as the Mercedes Presents Fashion Designer which will see him send looks down the runway from his eponymous label's Resort collection.

Dion Lee will open Australia's biggest fashion event of the year with a show on May 14. The full schedule of those presenting Resort 2018 collections at the event will be released next week.

As of yet, no New Zealand designers have been confirmed to show. Last year Kiwi designer Georgia Alice presented her first Resort collection, which helped her secure international retailers such as Net-a-Porter and Lane Crawford.

As the key designer for the event, Dion follows in the footsteps of other notable Australian designers Kym Ellery, Toni Maticevski and Carla Zampatti.

The 31-year-old designer is known for melding together elements of the Australian lifestyle, such as sport and surfing, with a technical approach to traditional tailoring. Each of his collections focuses on innovative techniques when it comes to cut, construction and fabric development.

Dion first made his debut at MBFWA in 2009, and in 2010 he staged a show at Sydney's Opera House. He has also presented numerous other shows at MBFWA, and has shown at London Fashion Week. For the past five years he's also been a regular on the New York Fashion Week schedule.

Mercedes-Benz supports fashion events all over the world, including in New Zealand — in 2016 Harman Grubisa were awarded the Mercedes-Benz Presents accolade and opened New Zealand Fashion Week, joining the list of past local recipients which includes Kate Sylvester and Trelise Cooper.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia runs from May 14-19 at Sydney's Carriageworks.

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