My husband and I first met Mel and Alan upon purchasing their Buckland Street, Chippendale residence from them. It was, and still is, a wonderful home and Mel and Alan were totally welcoming and warm to us. Who ever hears of vendors inviting the purchases of their property into their home for a nice glass of bubbles before settlement! That was their unique style. I will never forget their generosity, grace and friendship. Mel will be sadly missed, as surely as Alan has been, but I am glad they are together once again. With Much Love, Louise and Peter Watson.

Mel Clifford, the flamboyant and talented Sydney couturier has died after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Major surgery upon his leg had seen this one time 'danseur' who toured the world performing with the Royal Ballet, confined to a wheelchair.  Born in Echuca, Victoria in 1934, to parents Wal and Daphne Clifford, and raised in the riverboat town of Barmah on the Murray River, it was said that Mel's great grandfather, Benjamin Lloyd, who married Ned Kelly's Aunt, also made the armor that Ned and his gang wore.  Inspired by Hollywood legends like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, and decades before "Billy Elliot", young Mel entered and won every dance competition on the Murray and soon traded the rough rivermen and tough woodcutters of the Barmah forest for the fashion houses of Flinders lane and the National Ballet school in Melbourne.  His love of dance would see him travel the world as a dancer with the Festival Ballet from London, and his eye for fashion helped him to return to Australia and eventually became one of our leading couturiers.  He worked for the Australian Ballet at the Elizabethean Theatre Trust where he was the costume designer for Turandot, and he designed Rudolf Nureyev's trademark jump suit, at personal request. His brilliant sketch designs, as well as the way he dressed his dancers off the stage, attracted interest for a Vogue magazine shoot which assured Mel a place in Australian fashion history, and for three decades from the 70s to the 90s, Mel offered continual inspiration as one of Australia’s leading couturiers.   With a nod to Givenchy, the French designer whose elegance he so admired, Mel Clifford was known for his extraordinary creativity and would come to articulate a classic era of Sydney style and society. His clients included the Lady Potter, Lady Joel and Lady McMahon, as well as Val Smith in the 70s and 80s. He also designed exquisite wedding dresses for both Gai Waterhouse and Glen-Marie Frost. Responsible for creating the  popular tennis wear label, “One Love” with international tennis promoter, Karen Scott, Mel appointed Julie Singleton as the 'face' of Mel Clifford Designs.  He had us all entranced with his sense of elegant beauty and his impeccable tailoring, and his sketches alone were appreciated as exquisite works of art. As well as making time for art, Mel always made time for love, and his marriage to Judy Varga would evolve into a deep friendship that he continued, all throughout his life.  After his divorce, Mel later met journalist Alan Mackenzie, and a long-term relationship developed between the pair. He and Alan were a force to be reckoned with at society balls, and at key social events amongst Sydney's Glitterati.     In his final days, with his loved ones at hand, and in particular his sister Clarrie, he faced his illness with strength and stoicism. Before his death and with the help of his friend and writer, Jahan Tyson, he presented Ita Buttrose his gathered memoirs. In the face of debilitating suffering he was a continuing example of optimism, elegance and grace and after a lifetime that was filled with so much beauty, he faced  his final struggle with the same style with which he faced the good times. Mel Clifford's life is a uniquely Australian story of hard working creativity, impeccably applied style, and irrepressible love, and we are all richer thanks to his presence amongst us.