Maree Menzel

Maree Menzel was born on 9 November 1949 in Dimboola, Victoria, Australia. She developed an interest in design and modelling from a young age and commenced a Diploma of Art and Design at Prahran Technical School in 1967. After her first year Maree was awarded a Commonwealth Advanced Education Scholarship, based ‘on results obtained in first-year examinations’. During her time at Prahran, she was mentored by Rowena Clark, a distinguished designer and educator. In 1983-5 Menzel studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts, focusing on printmaking.

From 1972, Menzel was both modelling and writing for the first Australian pop music newspaper Go-Set. Her titles included ‘A guide to tarting your face on the cheap’, ‘Happy hats’, and ‘Excessoreyesing’.

In the late 1970s, Menzel designed for the Melbourne Theatre Company including touring productions: • 14 June 1977 The Wild Duck, Athenaeum Theatre Melbourne • 24 January 1978 Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi, Russell St Theatre Melbourne • 10 March 1978 Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi, The Playhouse Theatre Perth WA • 26 April 1978 Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi, Union Hall Adelaide SA • 23 May 1978 Departmental, Russell St Theatre Melbourne • 1 June 1978 Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi, Theatre Royal Sydney • 12 Dec 1978 Arsenic and Old Lace, Athenaeum Theatre Melbourne • 8 February 1984 The Real Thing Athenaeum Theatre Melbourne At the age of 28, Menzel was described as the ‘brilliant young Maree Menzel’, joining Kenneth Rowell to form a duo of designers for The Victoria Opera. Menzel also designed costumes and sets for • 10 September 1982 Void: In search of a dream St Martins South Yarra Vic • 20 March 1992 Mistress Antill Theatre South Melbourne Vic • 18 May 1994 Blithe Spirit Carmelite Hall Middle Park Vic • 25 November 1994 Steel Magnolias Carmelite Hall Middle Park Vic • 24 November 1995 Wildest Dreams Carmelite Hall Middle Park Vic

Menzel’s career as a fashion designer took off in the 1980s when she began working with Prue Acton, a prominent Australian fashion designer. As principal designer for Acton’s Melbourne Cup outfits, Menzel showcased Australian fashion on a world stage. Her designs included the Titanium outfit (1983), Mock Croc (1986), and an embroidered navy linen suit for Derby Day 1987. Menzel also designed Fantasy Head, a mask for a charity auction at the Metro Nightclub in the late 1980s, using green and gold fabric scraps to evoke sea and bush themes. Snake Proof, a costume designed by Menzel and Marcos Davidson, was part of Australian Fashion: The Contemporary Art, an exhibition at the Powerhouse in Sydney and London's V&A Museum in 1989-1990.

Menzel's eye for colour and sense of humour led to several interior designs and window dressing commissions. Her Port Melbourne home, with a deep orange Moroccan-inspired lounge room and hand painted mandala ceiling rose, is featured in Places, a photographic book by Earl Carter and Jean Wright.

Menzel married jewellery designer and musician Marcos Davidson in a colourful ceremony in 1989. They divorced in the 1990s. After many years with cancer, Menzel died on 27 December 2004, and is buried at Dimboola Cemetery.