Savannah Miller in Whiteshill

I just read The Citizen's extra features today and learnt that Savannah Miller lives in our village of Whiteshill.

Photo above of Savannah with sister Sienna from launch of her enterprise - and one below from the Citizen's website

Here's some of what the newspaper writes below - I do remember Sienna being quoted in The Guardian saying: when asked who she would she vote for? "I don't know. I'm a liberal at heart; I don't want to vote Conservative. I'd vote Green, but I know it's a wasted vote or whatever, but it's the only party with integrity."

I hope that with examples like Caroline Lucas MEP and other places where Greens have been elected that it is clear that a Green vote isn't wasted - indeed unless people start voting for what they believe in they are never going to get it - anyhow back to The Citizen....

Fashion designer Savannah Miller is often spotted on the red carpet alongside her actress sister Sienna Miller. But you're much more likely to catch her doing her weekly shop at Stroud's Farmers' Market. As Savannah admits, her life is one of extremes.

The girls were born three years apart in New York and Hong Kong - so life was never going to be conventional. Now, 28-year-old Savannah has been catapulted into the heart of the celebrity and fashion whirlwind, ever since she's launched her fashion label with her younger sister. Savannah, who lives in Whiteshill near Stroud, admits she was expecting the Miller sisters' label, Twenty8Twelve, to be criticised as another celebrity marketing venture.

Sienna, style icon, much- publicised ex-girlfriend of Jude Law, and star of Alfie, Factory Girl and Casanova, with Heath Ledger, is one of Britain's most famous faces and Savannah was worried the critics would get stuck in. But so far, she says, the response has been fantastic. It was never in doubt, really, with her impeccable fashion credentials.

Savannah graduated with first class honours in fashion design and knitwear at Central St Martin's before working for Alexander McQueen and as a freelance designer for clients such as Matthew Williamson, Anya Hindmarch and Betty Jackson.

Twenty8Twelve - named after Sienna's December 28 birth date - brings together Savannah's design skills and Sienna's ideas. They'd thought about working together for years, but it wasn't until fashion entrepreneur Carlos Ortega approached them that the idea came to life. They spent 18 months working on designs - Sienna proved a brilliant fit-model - and now their work is in the shops.

The 2007 autumn collection is a heady mix of Dickensian London, 19th century French peasant and 70s rock 'n' roll New York - with a smattering of Beat poets along the way. It's entitled An Anthology of Rebellion, and fabrics are beautifully-finished denim, luxurious knitwear, perfectly-cut dresses and masculine shirts. Notes and poems are stitched into some of the key pieces - so they immediately become collectors' items. For this collection, they've collaborated with artist David Cooper - he of PO Box art fame.

Savannah is justly proud of their work. "The vision for the label relies on time-old tailoring tecnhiques - sophisticated garments with a vintage feel, but contemporary vibe and strong directional design," she says.

At the start of each season, the sisters head off to Paris to scour the vintage markets for inspiration and brainstorm ideas for their look book. Their ideas and styles complement each other with Savannah describing Sienna as "younger in spirit" and someone who comes up with "crazy" ideas. "I'm quite an old lady really," Savannah giggles. "Sienna brings a youthful, slightly more edgy aspect to the design process."

Once they're back from France, Savannah gets stuck into the groundwork of making each design a reality. She's currently working on Twenty8Twelve's winter 2008 collection. Summer 2008, inspired by the vintage style of Vita Sackville West and other literary icons, is already in production.

Twenty8Twelve aims to produce quality, beautifully- finished clothes which are the antithesis to high fashion mass-produced clothes - much of which has, ironically been inspired by Sienna. "A lot of what Sienna was wearing was being copied and it was quite weird," said Savannah.
"It made her think 'where's your individuality?' Women need to feel that they can dress for themselves and wear clothes in their own way."

But for Savannah fashion is only half her life - she spends three days a week in London before returning to family life in Stroud with her two-year-old son, stepson and husband Nick.

Savannah says she lives in a "unique reality". "I don't think I can exist solely in either situation," she says. "I'm quite an extreme person. I like going to London and getting really involved and I also love being able to get completely away from it," she says. Although she does admit to being constantly in touch with home and work via her Blackberry.

Savannah moved to Stroud from Devon, partly to be closer to London, but also because the town and its surrounding countryside offered a way of life which suited her family. And she's in good company too - Robin Hood actor Keith Allen and Britpop artist Damien Hirst have all bedded down in the Stroud valleys. Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall have a cottage on the Gatcombe estate and bonkbuster novelist Jilly Cooper is just down the road in Bisley.

"I love the Stroud farmers' market and the personal touch you get there," says Savannah. "We're so lucky to have it here. It's probably the best market I've ever been to in the world."

Stroud suits her down- to-earth side - she doesn't own any designer clothes, other than a few gifts from Sienna, and says she shops at H &M in Gloucester. Country living gives her a healthy dose of reality to contrast the chi-chi world of London fashion. "You can go mad working in the fashion industry. It's all consuming," she says. And although she says Twenty8Twelve is here to stay, she has an alternative career up her sleeve for when it really does get too much. She is training to be a doula - or birth assistant.

"I want to eventually make it my career," she says with a smile. "I love fashion but I can't see myself doing it when I'm old and grey. I really believe there's not enough support for women when they give birth. I had an amazing birth and was very inspired by that. Birth can be a very empowering - and disempowering - experience. It's a time when you really need to feel empowered."

But for the time being, her double life of Stroud mum and London designer suits her well. As she says: "It's unreal - but it's also quite fun."