South African born Michele Keffen moved to the UK in 1999 having firmly established herself in the world of fashion.

Soon after qualifying as a fashion designer she was awarded 'Young Fashion Designer of the Year'. She had a weekly fashion trends feature on East Coast Radio in Durban, was regularly featured on Highway Radio and wrote a bi-weekly article on fashion for a local radio station's magazine "Up the Hill".

Her Durban-based evening wear and high class bridal wear business attracted clients from thousands of miles across the continent of Africa.

She had a team of around 40 seamstresses and designers in her team and has sewn for royalty. At the same time as running her successful design business, she also spent her time judging design contests and organizing conferences. In her spare time she worked for the Durban Natural Science Museum as a volunteer, which included assisting with genetic bat research.

Just after moving to the UK, she was offered a position on the Versace design team. Michele turned this down as she had just met British Fashion Photographer David Keffen. They married in 2000 and decided to open Society Brides (one of the UK's largest designer wedding dress stores).

In 2003 Michele and her team received two national awards from the bridalwear industry. 'Best Shop Design' and perhaps, more importantly 'Best New Bridal Retailer'.

Michele has been asked to speak at industry events, judge both adult and student design competitions and is generally accepted to be an expert in her field. Her work has featured in many of the national glossies.

She was a recent guest speaker at the Drapers Global fashion sourcing meeting held at London's Waldorf Hotel. Michele is also involved in fashion photography as an artistic director and are is currently editing the magazine 'Fashion Today'.

Michele's couture design team has produced tens of thousands of dresses. Her evening dresses and flamboyant ball gowns are now highly sought after, and often clients need to be placed on a waiting list in order to enjoy her bespoke designs.