REUTERS STYLE QUEEN: Designer Collette Dinnigan (centre) has been showing at Paris Fashion Week since 1995.

A-list fashion designer Collette Dinnigan jets into Wellington this afternoon for the first time in 26 years.

Dinnigan is one of four alumni to be inducted into the Massey University College of Creative Arts Hall of Fame at a black tie gala dinner tonight.

Born in South Africa, raised in New Zealand and now based in Sydney, Dinnigan has gone on to build a fashion empire since her time at Massey.

Five years after establishing her self-titled label in 1990 Dinnigan became the first Australasian designer to show at Paris Fashion Week. She has continued to show twice yearly in Paris since 1995 and remains the only Australasian designer to do so.

Her gowns are regularly worn on the red carpet by celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Pink and Kate Hudson.

Last month she was in London to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

She regularly returns to Auckland to visit her father, Des, but hasn't been to Wellington since she left New Zealand for Sydney in 1985.

"I can't wait to get back there. It will be fun, though I remember the airport always being a horror to fly into," Dinnigan said. "I hear Wellington has great coffee too."

She said she was "flattered" to be one of four esteemed design and fine arts alumni Hall of Fame inductees.

"One of them is Mark Elmore who designed the Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer. Everyone has one of those," she said.

Graphic designer Joseph Churchward. whose fonts are used the world over, and Wellington School of Design founder Arthur Riley are also being honoured. Previous inductees include Sir Richard Taylor, textile designer Avis Higgs and fashion designers Rebecca Taylor and Kate Sylvester.

Source: stuff.co.nz