Dion Lee Has Taken The Thong Trend From The Streets To The Runway
Despite thongs being a wardrobe staple Down Under, the humble rubber shoe is often reserved for beach days or quick dashes to the supermarket.
But when fashion girls such as Olivia Palermo and the Olsen twins were spotted wearing flip-flops with their everyday outfits, it was clear a trend was about to be born. Something that was cemented weeks later at Copenhagen fashion week where Havaianas were the shoe of choice for chic attendees.
Of course, it was only a matter of time before thongs would hit the runway with Dion Lee taking it upon himself to ensure an Aussie designer was the first.
The former fashion faux pas was front and centre at Dion Lee's New York Fashion Week show, where the designer's spring/summer 2019 collection was revealed to homegrown attendees such as Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Jess Gomes.
Of adding thongs to his show, Lee said, "The Australian lifestyle has always been a strong source of inspiration for me. Working with Havaianas, we integrated such a quintessential Australian footwear style in with the overall collection. They are such an iconic Australian look, we loved being able to include them in our NYFW show."
"As a designer, I am always exploring complexity and construction in my collections. Working this way means that the collection always needs to be balanced with simplicity. This season that simplicity was introduced via pairing some of the looks back with Havaianas thongs in classic black and white colourways."
