RAFW - Melanie Cutfield

Melanie Cutfield started out at the Fashion Design School in New Zealand. Like many other designers, she moved to London and America to seek inspiration, but has since moved back to Australia and her roots.

While playing a strong Arabic beat on full blast, Cutfield opened the show with a few dresses that were in sections of cream/white/navy stripes. The dresses, constructed from terrific heavy silk, were so long they literally dragged on the floor, and considering the height of the models, we’d be amused to see how these looked on ‘normal’ women. The dramatic Arabic rhythms were followed by a more upbeat contemporary section, using cream and white cotton pieces. Simple lurex tank tops, worn with soft pleated skirts, made the cute sports hats look like there was a game of tennis about to start.

Cutfield’s girls wore extremely high heels – even for a runway show – and the inevitable happened. It was in no way a slight upon the poor girl who tumbled to the deck and struggled to stand up again. She’s now up there with Naomi Campbell’s catwalk of (fallen) fame.