Menswear moguls Simon Ashdown and Neil Greenwood are leading a fashion phenomenon which is helping to put their small industrial town on the style map.

The pair turn out their top menswear label - Higgins - from The Weaving Shed in Cleckheaton - not normally thought of as the catwalk capital of the world.

But now they are hoping their new shirt, based on the 70s retro design which was once the epitome of yuppy fashion, will help to heighten the town's profile on the fashion scene.

The 'Cleckheaton Collar' - which prides itself on being 20 per cent polyester, 80 per cent cotton and 100 per cent Yorkshire - is a contrast-coloured or striped neopolitan-style shirt topped off with a smart crisp white collar.

And the beauty about it is that it looks just as good teamed up with a pair of faded denims as it does under a snappy suit.

Simon, who remembers the shirt during its '70s heyday, said: "This shirt is a particular genre which has been run by a lot of companies, a lot of shops are selling them under different labels, but we were one of the first to do it, we were at the forefront of the movement."

And, he said they decided to christen it 'The Cleckheaton Collar' because many in the fashion industry were fascinated by the fact they were based in a small town miles away from the fashion capitals of London, Paris and Milan.

"Our customers are always fascinated when they see our address on the invoice, and they wonder what Cleckheaton is like," said Simon.

"We say it is the world epicentre of fashion, because we know it isn't, and the name Cleckheaton conjures up the cloth-cap image so we decided to call it the Cleckheaton Collar to associate a fashion garment with us."

And he believes that using a local name will interest their existing retailers into buying the new product, seen here being tried out by Bradford Bulls star Nathan McAvoy.

And, so far, it has worked as the Cleckheaton Collar, which costs £50, has taken the district by storm.

Around 12,000 have been sold so far, making it the fastest-selling party shirt over the festive season.

"We couldn't make them fast enough," said Simon.

Now they have introduced the Miss Cleckheaton Collar, especially for the ladies.

This style costs £45 and is similar to the men's but is made from lycra and comes in a range of bright colours.

"We do a small ladies range anyway and the men's did well, so we decided to do it," said Simon.

But he says he still can't believe how successful it has become.

"I thought it would be too fashionable to become mainstream, and only a few fashion victims would wear them, but clearly not," said Simon.

Nigel Whipp, menswear buyer for Bradford's Sunwin department store, said since introducing the Cleckheaton collar to their Autumn menswear collection, it had been an instant success.

He said: "We deal with Higgins, we have been with them for several years because they are a local company and we do really well with them, and, as part of the new range, we thought we would give the Cleckheaton Collar a try because it is different.

"It is the retro-look made modern and it is totally different to anything else which has been around, and for someone wanting a nice party shirt at the cutting edge of fashion, that is the one to have."