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Why NZ is the secret to style icon Collette’s success

She found global fame, but the fashion phenomenon is still inspired by Aotearoa
Collette Dinnigan sitting at a desk in front of a giant bookshelfPictures: Earl Carter.

“Global citizen” is probably the best way to describe internationally renowned fashion designer and author Collette Dinnigan.

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She spent her most formative years growing up in New Zealand. But Collette, her husband Bradley Cocks and their children, Estella, 20, and Hunter, 12, now split their time between Australia and Europe.

After studying fashion at Wellington Polytechnic, then finding success across the ditch, Collette made history as the first Australasian designer to be invited to show her collection at Paris Fashion Week in 1995. Her beautiful creations have been worn on the red carpet by countless A-list celebrities, including Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Taylor Swift and Halle Berry.

However, in 2013, she made the bold decision to close her eponymous fashion label after the 2012 birth of her son Hunter, whom she conceived when she was 46, because she wanted to spend more time with her family.

Previously, her daughter Estella would travel with her everywhere, but Hunter was rowdier and didn’t necessarily want to follow routines.

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“Estella was eight when Hunter was born and I didn’t want two nannies,” explains Collette. “I wanted my children to carry my values. I don’t know if they’ve listened, but at least it wasn’t somebody else’s idea of what discipline should be or what priorities in life were. For me, those have always been about kindness, a good education and having fun along the way!”

Now aged 59, Collette doesn’t consider herself an older mum.

“I just think of myself as ‘on the move’. I’ve got high energy levels. Surround yourself with like-minded people, regardless of whether they’re young or old. There’s always possibility and there’s always time for dreaming.”

Collette Dinnigan sitting on a living room couch with her family
Living a designer life with husband Bradley, plus kids Estella and Hunter.
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Born in South Africa, she arrived in Aotearoa at age eight and grew up in the Bay of Plenty. She later found fame and fortune in Australia, where she has homes in Sydney and Bowral, as well as an apartment in Rome and an Italian farm house on an olive grove in Puglia.

It’s a life that matches the adventurous spirit instilled into Collette at a young age when her family set sail from South Africa on Boxing Day 1973 on a yacht. Their final destination was to be Canada, but after two years living on the yacht, Collette’s mum put her foot down – it was time for them to move off the boat and put down some roots.

While 1970s New Zealand was a shock for the bohemian family, who couldn’t believe the only coffee available was instant, Aotearoa became home. Growing up in Tauranga, Collette says our country continues to inspire her enormously,. She finds inspiration in the green forests, bright blue skies and long white clouds.

“I still visualise the white beaches of Coromandel, the po¯hutukawa trees, ferns, oysters and the black volcanic rock,” she muses.

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She first discovered her love of cooking when she won a competition run by the Egg Marketing Authority while a student at Tauranga Girls’ College. Then, Collette came third on Celebrity MasterChef Australia in 2021.

Now, having long hung up her fabric shears, she continues to innovate and has a natural flair for interior design. Her latest creation is her new book, Bellissima: An Australian-Italian Affair, which has been two years in the making.

Collette Dinnigan sitting on a stool at a desk in front of a giant mood board

A pictorial and interiors travel memoir that celebrates the simple things in life – like friendship, food, art and nature – it takes readers on an intimate journey into her world, and private homes in Australia and Italy.

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Her vision is for Bellissima to be a reference book that inspires ideas, as well as a treasure trove of great-tasting recipes that people go back to again and again, “so it’s not just sitting on your coffee table”.

Collette hoped to include New Zealand in her book but ran out of time and budget. “Maybe that can be another book – and to revisit South Africa too.” And while she has always harboured a dream of having a beach house on Waiheke Island, four properties to maintain and move between is enough.

She does, however, credit growing up in New Zealand, as well as the excellent practical grounding in design that she received at Wellington Polytechnic, for helping to pave her way to achieving success.

“There was a freedom and a certain sense of independence,” she smiles. “Having a small population, I learned not to do what somebody was doing next door because you couldn’t compete if you did the same thing. I honestly believe that part of my formative early years in design was doing something unique, independent and authentic.”

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Browse Collette’s work at collettedinnigan.com.

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