SYDNEY: Womenswear designer Melanie Cutfield has put the 'motherhood vs career' debate to bed.
She has just capped off a record-breaking spring/summer 2009/10 collection, with industry orders up by over 30 per cent on previous seasons. The designer restructured her business earlier this year by merging upmarket label 'Melanie Cutfield' with her recently launched diffusion line 'Muccia'.
"When I discovered I was pregnant last year, I thought it's just too hard for me to go out there and keep selling $800 dresses," Cutfield said. "So I decided to take the best of both worlds and created a middle brand that [averages at] $300 a dress."
Scheduled to debut across 80 independent stockists in New Zealand and Australia from next month, Muccia By Melanie Cutfield included 55 pieces across dresses, separates and knitwear. Day dresses started from $250 while cocktail varieties were priced between $300 and $400.
Cutfield said the volume of orders had grown substantially, despite a softening retail market. Just last season, tough conditions forced three of her clients into liquidation.
"I have the complete luxury now of being able to [review] orders which are a financial risk," she said. "It's the highest selling season we've ever had and I feel like it's also the best because we've worked so hard on refining the product. There's a lot more colour and it's a [label] that can be worn across a number of age groups.
"I think that's something retailers are very conscious of right now; good pricing, good quality and variety. The market for really expensive dresses is just not there."
The range is predominantly manufactured in Australia with only the knitwear component created offshore. A new software system - which was financed under a $46,000 grant from the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Small Business Program - had helped Cutfield to keep track of each stage of her business from sourcing fabric to delivery.
"This has also allowed us to focus on growing our wholesale accounts," she said. "That's something we really want to emphasise for a couple of more seasons - establishing new clients."
She said a move into the department store sector was not a strategy for the near future. Cutfield launched her eponymous label in 2003 before debuting Mucci in 2008.