Fantasy is one theme of the Spring collections, and Alice in Wonderland was the muse Collette Dinnigan channeled. It took a while to get to the fun part, though: The designer opened this dress-focused show with a passage in pre-rabbit-hole black and white. There was a little lace, some tulle, and rhinestones galore, but no organizing theme to distinguish these frocks from those of another designer on the occasion dress floor of a department store. After Alice took her notorious fall, however, things got more interesting. The boldly colored, painterly floral prints of Dinnigan s ruffled and tiered dresses—the models wore them shrugging off of one shoulder—had a real personality. Of course, we all have to come back to terra firma sometime, but it was a bit of a disappointment to see the designer return to the safety of black and white in the long evening looks at the end.
