After graduating in Environmental Architecture at Parsons School of Design, New York, Mel went on to work at ‘Makona’, the Budpaest Architectural practice of Imre Makovecz, Hungary. Followed by managing the Practical Projects Unit for the Prince of Wales. In 1995 she became the academic coordinator at the RCA, Royal College of Art, London, overseeing the MA Postgraduate Architecture Department for the architect Nigel Coates. In 1996, Mel started ‘Unlimited’, a design company specializing in art direction, graphic and brand identities. Clients included The Ivy, Le Caprice, Royal Opera House, Barbican, Channel 4, Buena Vista, Prada and BBC. She wrote ‘The Sex Book’ a DIY manual on Sex, published by Cassell 2003 and ‘Women Unlimited – The Directory for Life’, Penguin.
A slight change of direction followed and Mel produced several feature films including: Destricted, 2011, a short film collection exploring the intersection of sex and art with acclaimed artists Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, Marco Brambilla, Larry Clark, Gaspar Noe, Richard Prince, Sam Taylor-Johnson amongst others. The film was selected for ‘Sundance Film Festival’ and ‘Cannes Critics Week’. She also produced and edited the documentary ‘Henia’, broadcast on BBC, and the Cannes Festival hit ‘Me and me Dad’.
Mel consults for various Philanthropic Foundations including Richard Branson’s Virgin Unite and The Elders, and the business media groups Dazed & Confused and Playboy Inc. USA.
As a founding Investor in “The Apartments”, her brother James’s serviced apartments business, Mel is responsible for the recent rolling refurbishment and re-styling of the Apartments, in Chelsea, Marylebone and the City and works closely with James on a selection of the high end residential developments.