Barbour becomes Bra-bour as team come up with underwear design for Lorraine

Barbour machinists Maria Choumanidis, Julie-Ann Shevill, Sarah Davidson-Nelson and Laura Bingham volunteered after Walk the Walk got in touch with the company asking it to design a bra and skirt for television presenter Lorraine Kelly.

The group, who work from the firm's South Shields factory, used its tartan, the colours of the Kelly tartan and features from the company's wax jackets in the finished pieces.

The bra will be unveiled in Jenners windows in Edinburgh from tomorrow, alongside more one-of-a-kind bras that have been exclusively designed and signed by iconic

Scots and fashion brands.

These include a Bay City Rollers bra that has been signed by the pop giants and exclusively created by Slanj Kilts and a Judy Murray bra that has been designed and signed by the Scottish tennis coach.

The bras will also be showcased by models at a fashion show organised by Essential Edinburgh to raise funds for EFW charity partner, Walk the Walk, organisers of The

MoonWalk Scotland.

The fashion show will take place on The Mound in Edinburgh on Saturday, March 5, and the bras will be auctioned live on the night.

Hosted by Essential Edinburgh, Edinburgh Fashion Week was launched in 2015 to bring families and shoppers into the city centre, to celebrate the capital’s creativity and style.

This year’s event will take place from March 5 to 13.

Walk the Walk is a grant-making breast cancer charity and organiser of the iconic MoonWalks in London, Scotland and Iceland.

Every year thousands of men and women wear brightly decorated bras and power walk through the night to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

Angela Brownless, a technical manager at Barbour, said: “It has been very exciting and a lot of fun for us to design a bra for Lorraine Kelly for the Walk the Walk Fashion Show during

Edinburgh Fashion Week.

"Breast cancer touches the lives of so many people and is a cause very close to all of our hearts at Barbour.

"We hope it raises a great deal of money for the charity.”

Lorraine added said: “Two of my favourite things are fashion and raising awareness for breast cancer, so what a fantastic idea to combine Edinburgh Fashion Week and The

MoonWalk Scotland by auctioning specially designed bras! I am thrilled that my fantastic bra has been designed by Barbour, so please bid what you can.”

J Barbour & Sons Ltd was founded in 1894 by Scotsman John Barbour, who moved to South Shields in the north east of England where the company still has its head office and factory.