NAMES like Thakoon, Giles and Jonathan Saunders are known to most fashion followers, but Laura Miles may not ring as many bells. Despite her relative obscurity you are likely to have seen many of her creations before, because she has designed and developed fabric used by some of the world’s top designers.
"For the last 10 years, I have been gradually building up my businesvs,I now have a studio that employs three other designers and we work on a broad range of projects. We work closely with Vanners, the long-established specialist silk mill in Suffolk, on commissions for a range of designers and couture clients."
Designers including Jonathan Saunders,Thakoon, Giles, Basso & Brooke, Carolina Herrera, Hussein Chalayan, Issac Mizrahi and Vera Wang have used Vanners fabrics for their latest collections – but Miles’ personal favourite is even more high profile than the international catwalk.
"Recently the fabric we are most proud of is the one used by Thakoon for a bespoke outfit that Michelle Obama wore to meet Carla Bruni," Miles revealed. "She has such a high profile at the moment, with the whole world interested in what she wears, so it was great to have one of our designs on the front cover of newspapers all over the world, even though the fabric was wrongly attributed as being Italian!! I was surprised when Thakoon said that they had used the back of the fabric to make Michelle’s dress, as I hadn’t thought of using the back, but it looked really great."