Skinny row model back on catwalk

Sydney fashion designer Dion Lee has rocked the runway at Fashion Week but declined to comment on his use of super-thin model Cassi Van Den Dungen.

The model at the centre of Fashion Week's skinny controversy has strutted the runway for Dion Lee as the designer showcased his edgy new collection at a former grocery store.

Cassi Van Den Dungen modelled oversized harem pants and a long armed white jumper for Lee just hours after designer Alex Perry admitted he had made a mistake by casting the super-thin model in his show on Monday.

Victoria's Secret Angel Shanina Shaik, who was in the front row on Wednesday in a black Dion Lee dress, and said she loved the way the designer's clothes flattered a woman's curves.

"I love how Dion Lee's clothes accentuate the curves of a woman, said the 23-year-old Melbourne model, who will open the Swarovski show later on Wednesday.

"It's just my style, I love it so much."

Speaking ahead of the show, Sydney-born Lee would not comment about the health of the models in his show but said he booked women who had attitude.

"I'm looking for a woman who is confident, has a strong sense of character and has a uniqueness about her," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday Perry told the Nine Network's Today show he had promoted the wrong body image by using Van Den Dungen.

"I'm putting my hand up and saying `you know what, that was wrong, it was wrong, that was the wrong image to present'," he said.

On the runway at the former Fratelli Fresh warehouse in Sydney's newly trendy Waterloo, Lee impressed fashionistas with a superb collection based around 24 hour outfits.

"It's mixing daytime and evening wear elements with tailoring and street wear," Lee said.

Simply called line two, the designer's spring/summer 2014 collection features classic textiles - wool, leather and silk - "all of those wardrobe staple fabrics," he said.

There are hip bikie leather jackets, menswear-inspired oversized white shirts with buttons at the back, low-hanging harem pants worn with cropped skivvy jumpers, a women's version of a men's suit jacket, and tight fitting dresses with cut-outs.

His unique belts, an accessory to most of the outfits, are like armless denim and leather jackets that hang low around the waist.

Lee has become the wunderkind of Australian fashion design, having exploded onto the scene after his debut solo show at Australian Fashion Week in 2009.

His designs have already been seen on Hollywood clotheshorses Kate Bosworth and Charlize Theron.


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Source: AAP


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