Fashion that makes you look hot. Fabulous. Fashion that makes you look cool. Fabulous. Fashion that makes you feel cool when it’s hot. Even more fabulous.

Are you following me?

It’s 34 degrees outside as I write this and the temperatures are a-risin’. So tight fitting clothing and fabrics that don’t breathe … well they just don’t cut it now do they?

If you want to survive in the heat, think smart when buying summer clothing.

Karen Lee, of independent local label Karen Lee, has this season designed a small range of above-the-knee dresses that will make you feel as cool as a cucumber in stifling weather.

The dresses—a mixture of quality cotton and linen—are loose fitting but designed with enough shape and form that you don’t feel or look like you’ve just popped on a big paper bag.

‘The collection is created around a series of playful and dynamic patterns,’ say Karen. ‘I bought the fabrics because I found them fascinating. It’s amazing how each dress looks so radically different even though they’re all exactly the same design. And it’s intriguing how people are drawn to one pattern but not another and how one pattern looks great on one person but not another.’

The Australian-made dresses aren’t designed for a specific body type and so look great on all shapes and sizes. The fabric run is limited, so once the dresses are gone they’re gone.

‘The pieces are designed to be versatile,’ says Karen. ‘I have customers who wear the dresses with tights for a casual look. Some throw them over their swimmers and wear them to the beach, and some dress them up for the evening with a great pair of shoes and jewellery.’

Not only are the dresses easy to wear, they’re easy to care for and can be washed—no dry cleaning required. And who can go wrong with black and white?

Karen sells out of Assemblage Project in Braddon, a collaborative studio she owns and operates with the two designers behind another independent, local label—4 minutes 33.

The designers opened their retail shop shortly after Fashfest, having launched collections on the runway at the inaugural event. And Karen, like Gemma Jameson and Francesca Altenburg of 4 minutes 33, has submitted an application to participate in the four-day fashion event again this year (20 April to 3 May).

Designer applications for Fashfest are all in and have been reviewed by the event’s independent Fashion Advisory Panel, comprising fashion consultant and business owner Sarah Kelly, fashion educator and designer Shelley Campton and owner of high-end Department of the Exterior in Manuka, Susan Taylor.

‘Fashfest gives me exposure to a wider audience and the chance to interact with other designers, photographers and models all immersed in the crazy world of fashion,’ says Karen. ‘It’s good to see what other designers are doing and how they do things. It’s all very inspirational.’

While Karen can’t give away too much about her Fashfest 2014 collection, she can says its transeasonal and inspired by Clarice Beckett, a little-known Australian artist who was part of the movement ‘tonal minimalist’. Karen Lee’s collection is a play between hard and soft, and light and dark.

The final list of designers who will participate in Fashfest 2014 will be announced very soon, so stay tuned … and ‘be cool’.

the essentials

What: Karen Lee
Where: Assemblage Project, 3a | 25 Lonsdale St, Braddon.
Phone: 0435 001 886
Web: www.karenlee.net.au

Credits:

Designer: Karen Lee of label Karen Lee
Photographer: Loriana
Model: Lauren Hollands
Hair and Makeup: Lauren Cataldo