Yesterday, Sydney fashion designer Dion Lee opened this year’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia on the Monumental Steps of the Sydney Opera House. The unveiling of his Resort 18 collection coincided with an announcement that he is to create a new look for the staff of the iconic venue.

^{Dion Lee with Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron and models wearing his Resort 18 collection. Photograph © Bowen Arico}

Lee, who has long been inspired by the dramatic architecture of the World Heritage-listed building, will create a range of uniforms for 600-plus employees, including front-of-house, box office and tour guide staff.

“Dion is one of Australia’s brightest fashion stars whose work draws so beautifully on the sculptural elegance of Utzon’s masterpiece. It will be wonderful to work with him to create a new uniform collection for the people who bring the place to life,” said Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron AM.

Now 32, Lee graduated from the Sydney Institute of Technology in 2008 and made his debut at Australian Fashion Week a year later. In 2010, he was the first designer to stage a runway presentation at the Opera House, when he...