Bellissima

Book excerpt: When one enters a Collette Dinnigan-designed home there is nowhere else you would rather be. Her style is one of simple yet sophisticated beauty. Bellissima: An Australian–Italian Affair takes you into Collette’s world of beauty – interiors, gardens, food, friends, curiosities, art and travel – in Italy and Australia. It shows us Collette’s remarkable eye for detail, vignettes, texture and colour. She shares her design inspiration and reveals stunning photos never before published of her homes in Bowral and Darling Point, along with a Rome apartment and holiday house in Puglia. Collette and her photographer, Earl Carter, travelled the length of Italy, from Naples to Turin, to capture the essence of what inspires Collette that she then brings home to Australia, the ‘great Southern light’. ​Collette not only takes us into her own private worlds but also those of her friends such as Mimi Thorisson in Turin, Neil Perry in Sydney, and Louise Olsen and Luke Sciberras in country NSW, where they share their recipes and art. This is a book of inspiration and delight, a joyous journey of creativity with one of Australia’s foremost fashion designers. Full of glorious imagery, it is a must-have book for those who love travel and interiors.