AN iconic fashion designer has fulfilled a five-year-old promise by including a North- East museum in a world tour of her work.

Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, will be the only place in Europe to exhibit a collection of Vivienne Westwood shoes.

For a month, the exhibition of more than 100 shoes will take centre stage in the French-style chateau’s new fashion and textile gallery, before moving to China, Hong Kong, Japan and the US.

In 2006, Westwood contributed three dresses to the museum’s lace exhibition. On visiting the display, she was so impressed with the surroundings that she promised to lend more of her collection.

For the past five years, the museum has undergone widespread renovation and improvement work.

Until the textile gallery was opened, there was nowhere suitable to hold a fashion exhibition.

It is hoped the exhibition will draw a wide and varied audience to the museum.

Joanna Hashagen, keeper of textiles at the museum, said: “This is the first temporary exhibition in the new gallery and we could not have asked for a better one.

“The new gallery is a study centre for textiles and people can really learn a lot and be inspired by visiting it.

“This is something that Vivienne Westwood really, really believes in and it is wonderful she has included us in this tour. It is a real coup.”

Mrs Hashagen said the collection, which features designs from 1973 to 2011, offered a good insight into Westwood’s mind .

She said: “There are some shoes which are eccentric, some are rude, others are ridiculous – pretty much any adjective you can think of is in there.”

Louise Cooling from Sunderland, is on work placement at the museum as part of a masters degree in art, museum and gallery studies.

She said the exhibition would introduce the museum to a new audience.

The exhibition of shoes, some of which have been worn by the likes of Sienna Miller and Kate Moss, will be on display from today until July 10.