Lee Mathews Resort 21: Behind The Campaign

Lee Mathews Resort 2021 embodies a sense of joy and lightness, inspired by the singing birds in the trees surrounding the brand’s Sydney headquarters during Covid19 lockdowns. The act of flight and the sound of birdsong shaped a floaty, feminine collection with intricate detailing presented in a revelatory experience.

On finding inspiration while designing the collection during this unique point in time, Creative Director Lee Mathews muses: “Bird watching, birds flying and birdsong... all the planes stopped flying and all the birds starting singing again! It was so noticeable and impactful, as our workspace is surrounded by trees, everyone was talking about it.”

Spurred by the idea of the 'pursuit of happiness’ and the joy of happenstance owed to the pandemic, Lee Mathews embarked on filming and photographing it’s Resort 2021 campaign on dancers in a wonderful expression of the creative director’s vision.

The resulting campaign is a true collaboration between old and new friends, a labour of love. Lee Mathews collaborated with dear friend, photographer and designer, Martyn Thompson, who was in Sydney and unable to return to New York, on the making of the sets and the imagery. Under the direction of Eliza Cooper, dancers from the Sydney Experimental Arts Ensemble were shot performing their own work and interpreting the collection in their own way, against a backdrop of pink patched floating walls and painted backdrops. Conceptually, the campaign represents the creative process in its truest form. A group of people, who made something, tried to find a way to communicate its look and feel, and then came together to create a little film. Resort 2021 is designed to cover all bodies and occasions, retaining the romance of The Dress that Lee Mathews hold strongly as a brand, whilst also introducing more wearable workwear in the form of knitted track pants and polos. The notion that there was something for everyone within this collection was paramount.

“The Resort 2021 Collection feels like a new way forward and a different way of looking at things, and I hope we can continue to make lovely things in our ‘brave new world’.” – Lee Mathews, Creative Director