Collette Dinnigan

Collette dated Richard Wilkins and has a daughter named Estella with him.

She married Bradley Cocks in a private ceremony on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Cocks is a Canadian Entrepreneur, with a luxury hotel business around the world. They have a son.

Collette Dinnigan was born on September 24, 1965 in Durban, South Africa. Their family stayed on a yacht for several years and then they sailed around the western coast of Australia and eventually settled in New Zealand.

Her father was Irish and her mother had a modelling agency and designed textiles.

Collette wanted to to study graphics and attended a full days’ lecture, only to find out that it was the fashion course. Choosing 'Fashion and Textile' as her course, she graduated from Wellington Polytechnic.

After graduation she moved to Sydney, Australia and started working in the costume department of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She also did theatre, rock bands' styling and made feature films.

Her first catalogue was shot at the Alice Motel in Tamarama in 1990. Surprisingly, her French-inspired dryclean only lingerie became a huge hit. The lingerie was incredibly detailed and hand embroidered in India by highly skilled craftsmen.

In 1992, she opened her first retail store in William Street, Paddington, Sydney. It became the go-to destination for beautiful lingerie style dresses, delicate lace pieces and amazing prints. Soon the store built a strong following and she started exporting to New York (Barney's), London(Harvey Nichols) and Hong Kong.

In 1995, she opened her second store at Chapel Street, South Yarra, Melbourne.

She became a member of the Chambre Syndicale Committee, in 1995, and an advisor to the South Australian Wool Board, in 1997.

In 1998, she was appointed as the Chairperson of the NSW Small Business Development Corporation.

In 1995, she became the 'first-and-only-Australian' designer to participate on request by 'Chambre Syndicale du Pret a Porter des Couturiers et des Createurs de Mode' in the Paris’ Prêt-a-Porter (ready-to-wear) Fashion Week and launch a ready-to-wear collection as well.