'My mum is innately creative and has always been supportive in all the things I was interested in.'Credit:Janie Barrett
HELEN: Dion was a gentle,loving,thoughtful little boy. When he was nearly four,all of us (me,my then husband,and Dion's older sister,Carly-Ann) travelled around Australia in an old bus. We were away from our Sydney home for more than two years;sometimes Dion and Carly-Ann went to school but other times,I home-schooled them.
Dion was always very careful about the clothes he wore. When he was six,the girls in the street had fashion parades and Dion would compère on the microphone. As a teenager,he started making clothes with friends,and asked for a sewing machine for his 16th birthday. He got one,but it wasn't new! I have no fashion background,so I don't know where he gets it from,although my mum was always doing tapestry and crocheting.
Dion was 15[when our marriage ended],which is a tough age,trying to work out who you are and to have your home life pulled apart. Dion started off spending some time with his dad,but ended up with me.
In year 12,he decided he wanted to do a fine arts degree but hadn't worked hard enough. So he spent a year working in the trade,did a few sewing courses,taught himself to draw and suddenly he knew that's what he wanted to do.
He's always believed he'd be successful. He's single-minded and has that artistic nature where the practicalities get swept aside. He hadn't thought through how he'd achieve what he wanted without the business knowledge and money behind him. But then it all happened so quickly. His first year out from TAFE,he started getting orders for his women's clothing from small boutiques. He was trying to fill orders from his tiny bedroom in our home in Newtown[in Sydney's inner west],and I did a bit of everything:cutting,and sewing on buttons.
He had his first solo show for Fashion Week in 2009 in an underground carpark in Kings Cross,which was incredibly exciting,scary and emotional. The following year he was the first designer to hold his Fashion Week show in the Sydney Opera House.
Sometimes it was stressful,and when it became too much for him I'd ask,"Do you really want to do this?"He never wanted to compromise on quality. I used to try to argue,but he's hard to say no to and he's so passionate. We have a close relationship.