Collette Dinnigan

Collette Dinnigan

PARIS, October 4, 2008

By Nicole Phelps

There was a little black dress midway through Collette Dinnigan's show that reminded people who've followed her career of the early days. The frock's peekaboo-lace back echoed the lingerie-inspired dresses with which she made her name in the nineties. It would've been a good look upon which to build her Spring collection. As it was, it was just a (welcome) blip among many other pleasant but less distinctive dresses, some densely embroidered in metallic paillettes or studs, others cut in a filmy white chiffon with a violet butterfly print. Military touches on jackets struck a timely note, but there wasn't enough here to distinguish the clothes from those found in the contemporary collections seen on the runways of New York. In fact, that might be a good venue for this commercially oriented designer.