Susan lives in Dublin and is in a relationship with Rodney.

Karen spent time working in Royal Insurance and restaurants after school, before travelling abroad to Central America and Australia. She joined with Susan to establish Smock when she returned to Ireland. Karen lives in Dublin with her husband Gary, and they have a three-yearold daughter, Ruby.

Karen and Susan decided to open Smock in 2001, because they both adore clothes and fabrics and quirky detailing.

Smock has been very successful and attracts a loyal following, and it has exclusivity on all its Belgian, New York, Japanese and Australian designer labels.

Smock, 20-22 Essex Street West, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Tel (01) 613 9001 Susan on Karen I've always been best friends with Karen's sister Audrey, and our families used to go on ski holidays together. I remember that Audrey and I used to rob Karen's Lainey Keogh jumpers when we were teenagers, but we'd never fit into her jeans. Karen always had lovely clothes and loads of creams and make-up, and we used to go in to her bedroom when we knew she wasn't there and try them all out. I suppose four years is a big age gap when you're a young teenager, but I always thought Karen was glamorous and had loads of cool friends.

I was running my own clothing label, and wanted to open my own shop, so I called Karen, because she has always had great style and loves fashion. I knew she was really hard-working and entrepreneur-ish, and there was no fear either of us would be slacking. We were family friends and there was a trust already there, but we didn't necessarily hang out so I felt that going into business wouldn't affect our social lives.

I remember meeting up in the Abbey Tavern in Howth, and we sat and made a list of what we needed to start up a shop. It was like "hangers, bags, " and was so basic, looking back on it, but it was really exciting.

We took it all quite seriously, and did a Start Your Own Business course and a Mentor Programme. We did a business plan and got a loan to get started in 2001, and it's going really well, thankfully. We've been lucky because we've been able to stock amazing labels that we saw abroad and loved, and nobody else was stocking here, such as Easton Pearson and Martin Margiela.

I suppose the dynamic between us had to change, because I had to see Karen as a friend and business partner rather than as my best friend's older sister. It was probably a bit weird for Audrey initially, but it's all worked out brilliantly. Our families have all been great, and both of our mums help out.

Karen and I get on really well, and we work together two days per week, but we're in constant contact the rest of the time.

She's great fun, has a brilliant sense of humour and is always really strong. I really admire her for the way she manages to balance motherhood and the business.

Karen on Susan I lived two doors down from Susan growing up, and she was best friends with my sister Audrey. Our mums were also great friends, and our brothers were too. Audrey and Susan were younger than me, and Sue was more like another little sister to me than a friend, because she was just always knocking around the place. Sue became very interested in designing clothes as she got older, and she made me a pair of trousers when she was a teenager. She was really talented at design, and I modelled some of the clothes she made for her college portfolio, and I remember she made an amazing red dress that I loved.

I was always interested in fashion, and in clothes that were a little bit different and difficult to get here. I wanted to open up a business, and Sue was thinking the same thing and we decided to set up together. I was happy to work with her, because she has great taste and always made beautiful clothes. There was the comfort there of knowing her really well too.

Sue and I get on brilliantly and have become very close over the years, because the shop is such a big focus in our lives.

We're both passionate about the fact we're offering unique and exclusive fashion designs to our customers and that our collections appeal to a wide audience of style-conscious women. We go away on buying trips together, and always have a great time. We find it hilarious, because fashion is such a serious business for some people, whereas while we love it, and take our business seriously, we know they're just clothes and not a life-or-death situation.

Sue was really supportive when I had Ruby, and we've always been able to talk.

She's really good at seeing things through, and is really strong. Her worst quality is she's so security conscious - she's always triple-checking the doors! And then we'll be half-way down the street, and she'll still go, "Did I lock it?"

Sue designed and made my wedding dress, and it was very unusual and different and really nice. She stopped designing about a year ago, because it was so hard getting things manufactured here, and it's a shame because she's really talented and her clothes always sold really well. She always made clothes that were extremely flattering, and is so spot on about getting the shapes for women right, for all different sizes. Her attention to detail is amazing.