Australian Story

Grand Designs (20x31)

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When designer Collette Dinnigan shut down her global fashion empire it shocked not only the fashion world but also her closest friends. The self-titled 'obsessive creative' found the competing demands of motherhood and work increasingly difficult to manage. 'Another collection, another show, another this, another that. It wasn't what was important and it wasn't what was motivating me anymore," she says. "When you’re single it's easy, but when you have children your priorities change. It's not a decision you take lightly," says Collette's husband Bradley Cocks. After stepping off the fashion treadmill, Dinnigan continued to design on a collaborative basis and accepted an offer from Sydney's Powerhouse Museum to showcase a 25 year retrospective of her work. In an intimate profile, Australian Story revisits Collette's childhood and career and follows her as she prepares for her retrospective exhibition.