When in Rome: Former fashion designer Collette Dinnigan follows her heart to Italy

Australian fashion designer Collette Dinnigan has moved to Rome because her love affair with Italy isn’t over yet. Last month, she relocated to the ancient city with her husband Bradley Cocks and two children (Estella, 14 and Hunter, 6) just two and a half years since they last lived there.

With a 20-plus year career as one of the country’s most celebrated fashion designers now behind her, Dinnigan is all about embracing new life experiences in her 50s. She’s signed up for life drawing classes and, while abroad, will write two children’s books, which aren’t due for release until 2019 and 2020.

And there’s the renovation of an old farmhouse they purchased in Puglia– a 500-year-old masserie where Dinnigan will bring her interior and design touches to what will be a labour of love.

“I have always been back and forth between Sydney and Rome and never quite settled into Italy full-time,” Dinnigan says.

“I am finally ready to do it. I never quite grasped the Italian language when I was there and I plan to go to back to school full-time and learn the language properly. Bradley and I love the art, culture and love of family in Italy. It’s a perfect destination for us.”

Tucked in the olive groves of rural Puglia, Dinnigan is excited to split her time between country and city living.

“Puglia is a wild rugged part of Italy that nobody has really discovered,” she says.

“I love the figs drying on the rooftops, it’s where most of the olive oil and wine is grown and it’s 10 minutes from the sea. Everything is in excess and in season, it’s an unpretentious way of life and as long as you love tomatoes and cucina povera, you are right at home here,” she sings.

Her desire to connect to the land comes from her holistic view on life – she is ever mindful of her footprint. Even when she was busy running her fashion empire, she asked the factories she used in India and mills in Germany to explain how they are tackling water pollution.

Now, she’s also behind charitable causes such as Matt Damon’s Water.org in conjunction with Stella Artois – which aims to provide clean water to families in third world countries.

“I have a very holistic approach in all I do,” she says.

“Even when I created my brand, I was always left wondering what do the factories I use do with the water they use. How are they not polluting it and are they being mindful of the process.

“With the drought in Australia, the lack of water really makes you realise that people can’t live without it and crops can’t grow. It’s a very dramatic situation we’re in and I am definitely worried about it. Getting behind Water.org makes sense because it’s a worthy cause and clean water is a fundamental right.”

When Dinnigan tied the knot with Cocks in Positano in 2011, the couple sealed more than their marital fate. They also bonded over a love to explore Italy.

“For two decades I went to Paris and loved it, but every time I went there for Fashion Week I always felt a work connection to the city,” she explains.

“It is still very close to my heart, but Bradley and I wanted to bond over a new country – somewhere to go that didn’t have work attached to it.”

Dinnigan was born in South Africa and moved to New Zealand as a young child with her family. She arrived in Australia at eight after living on a yacht for several years – her dad loved to sail and took his family with him for the journey. She recalls her mother building their beds and sleeping in the bush – all part of their rustic childhood– where she was taught to be ever-curious in life.

For years she chased her career, which began at the ABC Costume Department in Sydney and saw her become one of our biggest international fashion names. But, after giving birth to her son, she had second thoughts about the pace at which she was travelling.

“The most important thing after I had my son, who didn’t travel well, is realise you can’t have it all,” she says.

“I would be on the phone in the middle of the night to Paris while my son needed me or my daughter might not have been well. I made a very big decision to focus on my family.

From a retrospective now on show at MAAS titled Collette Dinnigan: Unlaced to Australia Post honouring her with a stamp in 2005, Dinnigan is humbled by her achievements.

She has done a children’s line for Aldi, just launched an eyewear line with Specsavers for kids and is an ambassador for Miele. But for now, the world can wait because Dinnigan is embracing “la dolce vita” and will also write a book about Italy – inspired after guest editing Vogue Living’s December issue in 2017.

“I am hooking up with creative people in Italy to do something less commercial than the Vogue Italy issue, but still respectful to their art and culture,” she says. “I am all about Italy and I guess once busy, always busy, but it’s a nourishing busy if you know I mean.”

Get behind Water.org and make a difference here:

https://water.org/stellaartois/