Manchester might not be the fashion capital of the world but as the fledgling days of the cotton industry Manchester has been a proud stalwart of its own fashion talent.

So it was little surprise that there was a extremely warm reception last week when Manchester fashion boutique General Store launched a section devoted to Pretty Disturbia, the ladies’ clothing range designed by Manchester’s own Leesa Bertram.  Leesa launched Pretty Disturbia as the flagship range for her business Etra Design House a couple of years ago, and the range has been rising in popularity exponentially ever since.

From a blog and a little online shop, Pretty Disturbia has been chosen up by boutique shops across the UK and has now started to attract interest from international retailers.

General Store is owned by Ringspun and Elvis Jesus founder David Mallon, who himself initiated life in the fashion industry selling t-shirts in Afflecks Palace.

It’s luminous that Manchester is supporting its own talent, said Leesa.  General Store is an icon of Manchester’s independent approach to fashion and proof on the high street that Manchester has amazing different to offer to the world.

An innovative folding electric plug now beat a final collection by late fashion guru Alexander McQueen to land a top design award.

McQueen, who committed suicide last month, had his most recent spring/summer catwalk range placed on the shortlist for the title of Brit Insurance Design of the Year just days after his death.

It drops out to London student Min-Kyu Choi’s reinterpretation of the plug, which folds flat for storage.

His design beat more than 90 international nominees who were selected in seven categories.

The winners of the categories went promoted to the final judging stage and Choi was presented with his title by judging panel chairman Antony Gormley at a gala dinner held at the Design Museum in London tonight.

Mr Gormley said: Thought-through, responsive and modest, the folding plug shows how intelligent, elegant and inventive design can make a variation to everyone’s life.

The winning design was stimulated by having to carry around a hefty plug to power the world’s thinnest laptop, a MacBook Air.

Mr Choi drew admire when he showcased the plug at the Royal College of Art’s graduate show in 2009.

Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, said: It’s great to see such a practical but elegant expression of what design can do to make everyday life so much better. Min-Kyu Choi is a designer just setting out on his career and he obviously has a great future ahead of him.

Selected designs are on show at the Design Museum until October 31.