PARIS, Mar 6, 2005/ FW/ – In a season that has been full of girly looks and all about tapping into ultra femininity, it was Australian designer Collette Dinnigan’s season to shine.

Autumn winter 2005/06 for Dinnigan is pretty as she sent out signatory looks of lace layering, satin shine and Swarovski sparkles. She has become a master of delicacy, never excessively obvious in her choice of the whimsical.

The lady like collection is contemporary and modern, leaving a sweet taste in your mouth as it plays with sixties and seventies silhouettes. From thick wool candy colored overcoats with large buttons flaring to accommodate skirts, to French lace baby dolls for sensuality and feminine sexiness.

Day dresses are printed with dainty floral inspired by a secret garden hidden somewhere in Dinnigan’s imagination that dances on handkerchief hems and butterfly wings.

In old worldly elegance, aristocratic grandeur mingles with present day shapes and fabrics to create a personal wardrobe for the lady with her root firmly planted in individuality, leaving rules behind and instead choosing to make new ones that suit her day to day.

Ostrich feathers are as soft and luxurious as little cardigans and beaded detail on evening gowns. Softness mixes with modern female icons like Kate Bush, dressing not only in flowing petticoat flimsiness but pencil skirts, little tailored jackets worn over neat blouses and trousers that fall straight.

And then just as one thought the flowing fairytale had come to an end, two soft antique rose evening gowns with sparking jewels hit the runway. Collette herself in tow, all smiles and wearing flip flops with drawstring pants, just what chilly Paris needs right now, a reminder of just how fabulously the sun is shining down under, and Dinnigan manages to translate it into a wearable wardrobe.

Collette Dinnigan

Collette Dinnigan

Collette Dinnigan

Collette Dinnigan