Collette Dinnigan's beautiful French lace and hand-beaded dresses have made her a favourite among the A-list. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP
After two and a half decades at the height of high fashion, Collette Dinnigan has shocked and saddened customers, retailers and the fashion industry with the announcement that she will close her main label and cease creating the beautiful signature French lace and hand-beaded dresses for which she is renowned, after a final run of limited edition pieces.
Angelina Jolie, Naomi Watts, Halle Berry and the Duchess of Cambridge are among her customers but Dinnigan, who forged a multi-million dollar empire on the back of pretty lace slips, lingerie and dresses, will shut her boutiques in Sydney, Melbourne and London by the end of the year in order to devote more time to her children.
"It's been a very emotional day but I am still very busy for the next six weeks," says Dinnigan. Fans of the designer's work take note: as part of that final push: "There will be the last hurrah of limited edition pieces."
Rarely does a designer with the influence and following of Dinnigan cut short the fairy tale. Usually they retire or are bought out, with a hot young gun stepping in to continue the legacy. A legacy that, in Dinnigan's case, saw her single-handedly blaze a trail for Australian fashion in the late 90s, thrusting the world's spotlight on the country while others struggled to find their fashion feet.
"When I first started fashion was considered too fluffy for newspapers," notes the designer. "But I've had many newspaper covers and shown that fashion is a commodity and a viable business."
She remains the biggest designer success story to ever come out of Australia, and the only Antipodean to ever be officially invited by the Chambre Syndicale to show at Paris Fashion Week, where she first showed in 1995 having launched her label at the beginning of the decade with a collection of dry-clean lingerie. "My proudest moment was doing my first show in Paris and maintaining that for 18 years, doing 36 shows," Dinnigan says.
Her success can be attributed to her strong sense of signature. She has stayed true to her philosophy of creating runway-worthy gowns, while expanding into bespoke bridal wear, more casual prints and separates, and the diffusion collection Collette by Collette Dinnigan. (This more affordable line will continue to line the shelves at David Jones, Neiman Marcus, Matches Fashion and net-a-porter once the main label is closed.)
She has never deviated from her passion for luxury and quality, and as a result one can spot a Dinnigan a mile off – just as easily, in fact, as one can spot the legion of copycats that tried, and failed, to cash in on Dinnigan's love of French lace.
"If anyone wanted anything lace they always came to Collette Dinnigan," the designer says. "Now there's so many cheap copies it's sad. Lace is pretty and delicate and what is special about the brand is the emphasis was always on good quality, good fabric and cut and making clothes that stood the test of time."
While there is no arguing that the Australian retail and fashion industry is suffering financially, Dinnigan is and has always been in a league of her own, with her business set to make $14 million for 2014. So this was not a financial decision but rather an emotional and family one that Dinnigan made after her last Paris show.
"It's sad but other things always happen, and I am so excited to get to spend time with my children as they are growing up. The whole decision was based on that," says the designer. "I will spend Christmas and summer with my family at our farm and I am so excited as I haven't done that before. Usually it's been fleeting and I've had to work."
The question now is what will become of the Dinnigan devotees who, in an era of fast fashion, were happy to part with hundreds, even thousands, for a piece safe in the knowledge that it was only one of a rare few ever made – Dinnigan sewed that number into the garment.
A Dinnigan dress has always been a fashion classic that would hang proudly in their wardrobe and stand the test of time and the rollercoaster of trends. "Many daughters are now wearing their mothers' dresses," Dinnigan says. And as for all the brides who've been saving their hard-earned cash to ensure they are married in a Dinnigan … it's a gap that will be difficult to fill.
There are still a few months in which to purchase Dinnigan's high-end pieces, with the boutiques not closing until early January. And her diffusion line will remain, along with her children's wear collection which is relaunching at David Jones next month. She has also hinted that she is open to future designing collaboration opportunities. "It's a chapter closed but you know me, I can't stay away," she says.
But there will be no more of her signature inspirational creations, beautifully and thoughtfully crafted from the finest materials. One can only imagine the news will have fashion aficionados racing to her stores to snap up a coveted collector's item.
via fashion - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGDQHGJAYY-_fNYb3lJ92C93fRBxQ&url=http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2013/oct/29/collette-dinnigan-leaves-fashion-stage
0 意見:
張貼留言