DAVID BECKHAM could be stepping out in style at the World Cup this summer if he follows the example of a North-East clothing design team.

Beckham's suit was just one of four outfits designed by the Dewhirst Clothing Company, in Peterlee, County Durham, which swept the board at the British Clothing Industries Awards, the equivalent of the Oscars in the corporate clothing industry.

The team had to produce innovative clothing designs for different off-beat business roles.

It scooped awards for corporate designs for a licensed cab driver, entering an outfit for a Tokyo rickshaw rider, a croupier at a Swedish "ice hotel", a Made in Britain advertising icon as well as a suit and strip combined in the category headed David Beckham at the World Cup.

Design executive Simon Young said: "As a business, we've always tried to find ways of being innovative, so we really like to push the boat out when we get the design briefs and look at them from a creative angle."

Sales and marketing director Phil Harland said the success was timely, giving recent factory closures within the Dewhirst group.

He said: "We are overjoyed that we have been so successful this year.

"There is a committee of peers and customers as well as designers, and the fact that this group has given these awards is very important to us."

Apart from the four design awards, Dewhirst also won first place in the Financial Services category for a classically tailored range it designed for the Allied Irish Bank.

The design team presented its work to colleagues at a special fashion show last night, at Durham's Ramside Hall Hotel.