The fashion house Dion Lee is new to me. The first time I heard about them was a few weeks ago when SSEDITORIAL released the NYFW schedule. I looked them up because I was curious. I went straight to their collections section to see why SSEDITORIAL was excited about the show and I immediately understood why.
As we’re speaking about the fall-winter 2022 collection, I won’t spend too much time on the past but I will reference it. A great way for me to understand what I’m looking forward to is to see previous collections.
Fall-Winter 2020
This collection looks amazing. Mostly because of the cut-out designs on the tops that were put on the runway. It reminds me of the days when Notting Hill Carnival was a highlight of summer and cutting my t-shirt up to get ready for the festivities. Moreover, I am a sucker for a good coat. This collection has some of the best gender-fluid coats that I’ve seen in a while. To me, that makes a collection all the more worthwhile. In fact, I use this test on high street brands to see if they are worth me spending my money on.
Spring-Summer 2021
Next, we move on to the successor collection and it reminds me of vacationing in The Caribbean. The string vests are a huge part of my culture and there is enough flair with the plethora of bottoms, that it feels like a resort collection. There is hardly a look from this collection that I wouldn’t want to take home.
Fall-Winter 2021
Arguably the most important collection behind my expectations for 2022, was the fall-winter 2021 collection. Creative designers are at the mercy of constantly having to reinvent the wheel. Regurgitating what was put on the runway last season is an easy and overrated cop-out. Chanel is a habitual offender of this technique and the usual answer to this is that they are a brand that understands its audience. I disagree with this conclusion because we all grow and find new ways of being inspired. For example, if you think about runway shows today, the amount of diversity compared to a decade ago has improved. With that, you learn to adapt your brand’s voice to the tune of inclusion. There is no way you can plausibly recycle an old collection with hyperinflated prices and call it a brand new collection. I’m not buying it. Not even on sale. I enjoyed the solid colours of this collection and the cut-outs.
Dion Lee Fall-Winter 2022
Fast forward to fall-winter 2022 and I had high hopes for Dion Lee. I’m not disappointed, but I do understand why the collection was what it was. On a separate note, this collection does give me a Balmain Spring-Summer 2016 vibe. Go and have a look at the Balmain collection and see if you agree with me.
I will say that I loved menswear. Mainly because I think it challenges you to think about which guy you could see wearing this. I think menswear challenges the viewer to think about what fashion means and challenges the traditions behind the clothing. From leather to crochet to lace this collection was refreshing. I enjoyed most if not all of the jackets as well as the cut-outs. Another honourable mention is the knitwear in this collection. I wouldn’t wear this outside because there are too many holes in the clothes. But inside the house does seem sensible.
I am going to keep my eye out for Dion Lee in the future and see how the cut-outs in particular evolve. But to conclude, I certainly enjoyed the collection and feel as though this was indeed a ready-to-wear collection.

Model Diversity
Outerwear
Adjustable Clothing
Re-imagination of Menswear
Knitwear
Limited Collection
Sama is the Editor in Chief of SSEDITORIAL Magazine. She currently oversees the creative direction of the magazine after ending her role as Runway Director to develop the SSEDITORIAL RUNWAY division. When Sama is not leading the team. She likes to contribute, primarily to the high fashion section of the magazine.