Over 30 years ago, Deborah and Bruce Michel launched Michel Design Works, featuring beautiful paper gifts, such as books, journals, and stationery. From the beginning, we believed that our packaging was just as important as the gift itself. Deborah developed our own unique style, inspired by her lifelong love of French and English art from the 18th and 19th centuries. Her layering of multiple antique designs and her vivid color transformations lead to us establishing a stunning, often whimsical look that is always recognizable.
Michel Design Works began the transformation into the world of personal care products and fragrances when blogs and online photo albums threatened to make two of our best-selling products – elaborate keepsake journals and photo albums – obsolete. As Deborah explored her passion for fragrances, soaps, and lotions, we maintained our beautiful packaging and prominent status as a trendsetter in the gift-giving industry.
Preserving our brand’s reputation for affordable luxury, we sought out the top soap makers and fragrance houses in the world to provide our customers with triple-milled soaps that smelled as amazing as they felt. Next came lotions and then bubble baths. As we grew, we experienced a kind of customer excitement that we never witnessed with our paper products. They loved our luxurious, yet reasonably-priced items. So we continued to develop new products and lines while our brand and reputation continued to grow. Eventually, we began to receive requests from boutiques around the world, and, of course, we happily obliged. While we’ve stayed true to our roots and are still headquartered in the charming town of Katonah, NY, Michel Design Works is now a global brand.
Today, we’ve expanded our product lines into the home décor category, offering our distinct designs on everything from pillows and rugs to serving trays and paper napkins. The response from our customers has been overwhelming. They still come to us for that perfect gift, and they repeatedly return for more. With the launch of our consumer website in the fall of 2019, we celebrate our long history, but more importantly, we celebrate our loyal customers who’ve brought our products into their homes for several decades.