Every once in a very long time there is the chance to star in a campaign of a label you really adore.

When the team of En Soie asked me to model their home collection in my house - and also some of their beautifully made clothes - I could not resist. So one day in early autumn a crew of stylists, creatives and the photographer entered our little home in Kaiserstuhl to stage the new collection of En Soie right there and then.

En Soie is the story of exceptional women.

Monique Meier founded the label and the beautiful store in Zurich old town. Taking over from Königsberger, Schimmelburg & Cie. founded 1894 in Zürich, a city renowned for its silk trade. Technical innovations and favourable customs regulations in Zürich offered an ideal economic climate. The company became one of the world’s most important players in the silk trade.

From 1947 on the worked together with leading Parisian fashion houses and designers, such as Dior, Balenciaga or Givenchy who ordered their customized fabric collections from the company.

While still a student, Monique Meier had started to work for the company, contributing creations of her own. She also traveled to India for the first time, where she encountered a new universe of colour. The journey proved a seminal experience for the company's artistic vision. In the mid Seventies the Meier family takes over, Monique Meier becomes the director. Her vision is to create a brand of her own with a distinctive identity that is as contemporary as it is classical. She wants to produce sustainable products out of quality materials and promote traditional handcrafted methods of production.

In 1984 the company name is changed to Sourire enSoie AG, enSoie for short. The store and atelier are opened in a 14th-century building in Zürich’s old town.

In 2013 Monique and Dieter Meier’s youngest daughter Anna Meier becomes the creative director of En Soie. A new logo, new typeface and new packaging are among the innovations.

Today Monique Meier’s daughters, Eleonore, Sophie and Anna, are the third generation to run the company. They have set up an in-house pottery studio to focus more on local production in Zürich again.

I have been a client since I first visited Zurich almost thirty years ago, introduced to the shop by my late mother in law, also a big fan. From then on I looked for their iconic ceramics, clothes, accessories and silver jewellry - I got them for myself and as presents for family and friends. Even our Christmas tree is trimmed with En Soie elements and - even more important - our easter table, as bunnies in different designs became a signiture element of the label some time ago.

Online shopping is easy and everything arrives beautifully packaged - but I still love to go to the store. You will always meet at least one of the girls - as they all grew up with their mother working there they got used early on to play with garments and pottery and kind of made it their home.

Since they heave children of their own now, who knows when the next generation of En Soie women will take over...

www.ensoie.com