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Fashion Designer Kacey Devlin Reveals The Dress You Need This Season

Shine bright at your next big event

Thereโ€™s something gleaming in the back corner of Kacey Devlinโ€™s Sydney studio โ€“ tear your eyes away from the racks of new season clothes, paper patterns and the designerโ€™s incredibly chic moodboard and youโ€™ll find the real gem: a twinkling dress crafted from what looks like meticulously woven chainmail, spun from pure gold.

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โ€œFor the last couple of seasons weโ€™ve been working with a really unusual hi-tech metallic, knitted metal lurex,โ€ Devlin says. โ€œIt has this chain-mail aesthetic which has the connotations of bravery and confidence that I want the Kacey Devlin woman to embody. Itโ€™s luxurious and sexy and fluid, but that chainmail quality also makes it strong.โ€

A finalist for the coveted Prix de marie claire Next Gen award, sponsored by Lexus, Devlin immediately attracted the judges with her imaginative, innovative approach to design. Most of her garments are made without traditional fastenings, forcing her to look for novel ways to drape the fabric around the body, and allowing for her design signature: a dramatic collapsed back.

Itโ€™s a style that suits this glimmering fabric to a tee, resulting in a dress that demands attention yet isnโ€™t remotely showy. โ€œThe fabric is milled in Italy and weโ€™re introducing new colours โ€“ weโ€™ve generally worked with it in silver and gold but for Resort weโ€™re introducing a bronze and a black,โ€ Devlin reveals. โ€œThe bronze is so special; I didnโ€™t even want to give the samples to Fashion Week. I wanted to keep them for myself!โ€

Fashion Designer Kacey Devlin Reveals The Dress You Need This Season
Fashion Designer Kacey Devlin Reveals The Dress You Need This Season
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Unsurprisingly, the making of such a piece is a delicate process. โ€œAs soon as you cut it, it kind of falls apart, the knitted shards just fall across the table,โ€ Devlin explains. โ€œWhen you first look at it, it seems quite coarse, but when you actually start to build a relationship with the sense of touch itโ€™s actually quite luxurious and slinky.โ€

Under Devlinโ€™s deft hand, the precious metals glide across the body, molten yet strong. A gold-standard party dress if ever we saw one.

Lexus is proud to support Prix de marie claire, and the Next Gen Award, which recognises and supports emerging fashion talent.

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