Al Melling - Fashion Design

Fashion Design

At the beginning of the eighties he became involved in the fashion industry. He owned a company in London throughout the eighties which designed ladies' fashion garments. As owner he became interested in the whole lifecycle of garment production and learned how to make the garments himself. As of 2010 he is part of a project to launch a fashion label based on his own brand – Wow! Melling.

Melling has had ambitions to launch a brand for over a decade. Melling's factory and company were based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, however the launch of the Wildcat unfortunately coincided with one of the worst recessions the automotive business has had. The company also had a major problem in finding employees with the level of skill to make the components – a problem which would have been solved by the purchase of TVR. At this point, in an attempt to turn the business around, Mr and Mrs Melling decided to move everything to the Autodromo do Algarve in Portugal, where a deal was completed on factory space. Sadly, at the end of negotiations Mrs Melling died.