Keep an eye out for up-and-coming Melbourne label Melia by Night – because they’re already turning heads. With their recently released Autumn/Winter collection now available in Design A Space in Manchester Lane, Melbourne City, the dynamic duo behind the label are definitely on the right track.
The brand began when two friends, Amelia Willey and Nye de Marchi, combined their interest in fashion with their love of creating clothes. I sat down with one half of the pair, Amelia, to talk about the label, their inspiration and her personal style.
Anna Wintour Says: Firstly, how did the name Melia By Night come about?
Amelia: We wanted to incorporate our names so we were thinking of using the word night somehow to link to Nye’s name. And then using my name too, we came up with Amelia by Night. But Nye’s boyfriend misheard it as Melia by Night without the ‘A’ and we really liked that so it kind of just stuck.
AWS: How would you describe the current season’s stock?
A: It’s called Untamed and it was inspired by some really nice natural feathers that we found. We were designing at the time of the launch of Where the Wild Things Are so that was an underlying influence also. But because there was a lot of other collections that were influenced by that too, we tried to move away from the idea in a typical way and into a grungier look. Generally, we try to focus on having simple pieces but we also really want each piece to be unique rather than what’s ‘in fashion’. Nye and I have quite different styles – she’s behind the tie dye and lime green whereas I love the black ripped pieces – but it works well putting our ideas together.
AWS: What are you feeling for your upcoming Spring/Summer collection?
A : Each season we try and keep some kind of an element from the previous collection to tie it in with the next one. At the same time, we want to move away from the really dark and really bright colours and go back to a classic colour palette. Nye was thinking 1950s with creams, beiges, navy and whites – lots of monotone. And, I’m thinking something along the lines of really classic, men’s wear inspired designs. So, maybe a tailored blazer, a bit of tweed, beige shorts and men’s style pants. When it gets more summery we’ll work it all in with some nice linens and whites, I really want to do a little white tennis dress too!
AWS: How do you juggle uni and work and Melia by Night?
A : I struggle! We generally do
Melia by Night in any spare time that we have. It’s been really good working in a duo because when one of us is busier the other can take on more work and vice versa. Nye’s been really good with that aspect and has done a lot in as far as sewing to keep up stock. But it’s been really hard at times especially last year when I was doing a weekend fashion course as well as uni and work. But, we’ve mainly tried to do most of Melia by Night work when we’ve had short holiday breaks because the hardest part is the doing the manual sewing in bulk. We’ve done a few 3 AM late nighters instead of hitting the town…
AWS: So what do you like and dislike about design and sewing?
A : When I was in my final year of high school I did a fashion folio, so I guess I’ve always loved the fashion illustration side of things the most out of anything. Whilst the sewing is fun and especially good when you’re making a one off piece, doing it in bulk and under pressure can be really stressful and time consuming. It’s more the design and illustration side of things and well as the photo styling which interests me the most. It’s really nice as we establish ourselves more, to have less of the practical stuff to do and to be able to focus on the management of the brand and the designs more.
AWS: Where do you see the future of Melia by Night?
A: In the immediate future it would be nice to be stocked in more shops – to be an Australian brand in a small line of boutiques. But for further in the future I think it would be good to try and separate ourselves from some of the more commercial Australian brands and get into doing fashion shows and higher fashion. So in that way we might continue Melia by Night as targeted more towards the younger clientele and then develop a higher-end, more design-based brand extension. Also, we’ve sampled a lot of jewellery pieces which include lots of bows and rusted metals, so we’d definitely like to expand on that. And, I really want to develop a men’s clothing line – just really simple men’s clothing with minimal colour and a focus on textures. I often prefer wearing boys’ clothes rather than girls’ clothes, so I wouldn’t mind doing that just for me as well!
AWS: Now just a few questions about your own influences. If you could be anyone else in the fashion industry who would you be?
A: Whilst my favourite designer is Alexander Wang, being in Karl Lagerfeld’s shoes would be great – look at all the houses he owns! But seriously, [Lagerfeld’s] professional position is amazing because he’s both the creative director of Chanel and Fendi and also able to run his own independent brand.
AWS: How would you describe your own style?
A: Not too girly girl! My wardrobe’s pretty much colour coordinated from black to white with just about every shade in between. During the day I love really easy looking, simple clothes except for when it’s summer because I like to wear more colour and as much jewellery as possible. And for night time; once again really simple, clean pieces but it’s always fun to add accessories or pieces that stand out.
AWS: Now for the ubiquitous “favourite” questions: what are you listening to right now?
A: My iPod really needs an update right about now…
AWS: What are you reading?
A: Almost French by Sarah Turnbull and I’m flicking through The Sartorialist book.
AWS: Favourite food?
A: Prosciutto and olives!
AWS: Favourite magazine?
A: Russh.
AWS: Favourite colour?
A: Well, black and white and grey aren’t really colours…
AWS: And finally, do you collect anything?
A: Rings, but I tend to lose them all the time! And my collection of antlers and Moleskine journals is definitely growing.
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You can check out their Autumn/Winter collection (as well as past collections) on their website here but to make life easier for everyone, I’ve compiled a little slideshow of all the looks.
(Images courtesy of Melia by Night online)
This Is Not Vogue. 
jo
June 1, 2010
I LOVE the clothes by Melia by Night – heading to Manchester Lane tomorrow to check them out!
juliamihai
June 7, 2010
Go Millie! YAY! My friend, MT, was wearing the most gorgeous black cotton/feather concoction which Miss Millie has designed and created the other evening… TO DIE FOR!