SOME of the biggest names in fashion will descend on a Blackburn mill this week for a true feast of fashion.

Witton Mill has long produced fabric for high street designers including Next and Benetton.

But now the firm is launching a new range of clothes which will be designed and produced in-house in a bid to put Blackburn firmly on the world fashion map. Managing Director Norman Walsh said: "Not many people would associate Blackburn with fashion, but recently on a trip to Milan I was getting my point across that more and more modern investment in the fashion industry is in this country. "We have invested £5.5 million in new equipment in Blackburn and are now ready to launch our own new range of clothes, Fig, at a special fashion event at our mill."

Representatives from most of the major fashion retailers in this country will have front-row seats at the Witton Mill catwalk on Wednesday when top London models will give the clothes their first public showing.

Fashion students from the University of Central Lancashire will also be showing their own designs in Witton Mill fabrics as part of a special competition which will be judged by a team of fashion industry experts headed by Sylvia Aitken, head of design at Etam.

Stella McCartney, top designer at fashion house Chloe and daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, was due to attend but had to pull out because of work commitments.

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