IT'S not often that Worcestershire has a direct link with top international fashion brands Gucci and Louis Vuitton, but now it has in the rather unlikely scenic surroundings of the Teme Valley.

Because Amy Chmielewski, who worked for both of them, has set up her own business La Bespoke Bride selling upmarket bridal dresses from a barn conversion business at Stanford Bridge.

She was Amy Yarrington, a member of the well-known local coach company, when a pupil at St Mary's Convent School in Worcester and then at Cheltenham College, before moving to London to study fashion. She said: "My background has been in fashion, having worked for Louis Vuitton and Gucci in the past and since then having my children I wanted to get back into what I really enjoyed, fashion and retail.

"When I was searching for my own wedding dress I realised there was a market for a more modern fashion forward bride. I started researching designers around 12 months ago and collecting a group of designers I wanted to stock if I could open my own business. Now I have found just the right place in a little business community based in converted farm buildings, where there is plenty of space to park and everything is relaxed.

"Among the designers exclusive to me are three from America, one from New Zealand and another from Australia. So the dresses are unique.

"I've even had customers travel up from London and one sought me out when she was back home from Hong Kong."