CANBERRA fashionista Angela Menz’s win at last week’s Flemington Fashions on the Field contest has copped serious criticism from fellow contestants.

According to news.com.au, top Melbourne designers are demanding a change in the competition’s system of entry, saying experience designers are winning prizes meant for amateurs.

Angela, who took away not only the national title but more than $90,000 worth of prizes including a Lexus IS 250C sports convertible, valued at $85,050 and a Longines Master Collection watch, is a fashion design graduate from CIT who manages a retail store in Woden.

In an interview with “CityNews” last month, Angela said she had entered more than 100 fashions-on-the-field competitions during the past decade.

In an interview with news.com.au Melbourne designer Helen Manuell said:  “If they had to enter the design award, they wouldn’t even make it through the heats.

“We wish we could enter those categories, the prizes are bigger, but I can’t enter myself.”

The article also quotes Angela saying that she had been “getting crap from everyone” post-winning the amateur competition but pays no heed.

“It’s all very well for people to stand on the sidelines and grumble and it annoys me quite a bit, they could get up there, and put themselves up for scrutiny but they don’t,” news.com.au quotes her as saying.