A British designer has won a contract at London Fashion Week to make clothes exclusively for one of Europe’s top online fashion stores.

Gavin Douglas was one of four finalists in the Fashion Fringe competition set up by Sunday Times Style's Colin McDowell, aimed at finding talent and breathing life into the British fashion industry.

Mr Douglas, from Birmingham, who will receive £100,000, will now design exclusively for Yoox.com, who sell women and men’s designer clothing and have more than 2 million visitors each month.

Tom Ford, the honorary chairman, who was accompanied by judges including the designer Giles Deacon and the creative director of Selfridges, Alannah Weston, said: "We were looking for a really strong designer.

"Gavin Douglas demonstrated the will, the drive and a certain amount of charm, which doesn’t hurt."

Fashion Fringe has become an established part of London Fashion Week and Mr Douglas can now look forward to a high profile launch in the fashion world.

Mr Douglas told Times Online: "I am over the moon. It is an amazing opportunity to take my work to the next level. After all the years of hard work it is a dream come true."

The publicity generated for previous winners, Basso & Brooke, brought them to the attention of the Italian manufacturing giant Aeffe and the pair, who have helped whittle down this year’s 274 entrants to a shortlist of four, are reporting sales in excess of £1.25m and have now expanded into homeware.

As well as selling the winner’s spring/summer collection for 2007 Yoox.com will also sell the collections of this year's Fashion Fringe finalists.

The company has become one of the biggest online retailers of fashion, with a turnover of over of £35 million, selling right across Europe.

Mr Douglas said that his creations were based on an exhibition he saw at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on black Victorians.

"When you are at school, you only learn about the slaves. I did a lot of reading and found out that Queen Victoria had a black goddaughter, and that there were black trapeze artists and street musicians."

The Victorian influence can be seen in Douglas's big occasion pieces, with embellished corsets and swagged skirts made from up to 10 metres of silk.

"I'm into elegance and extravagance," he says. But there are other influences at work too. His draped trousers trimmed with military buttons wouldn't look out of place on a nightclub dancefloor.

Federico Marchetti, founder of Yoox.com, said: "We are proud to be associated with London Fashion Week and to be promoting the winners of Fashion Fringe.

"Our partnership gives huge global exposure and distribution to the winning Fashion Fringe collection. In return this association gives Yoox.com the opportunity to reach new audiences who share our passion for supporting new talent and creativity.

Mr Marchetti, who used to work at Lehman Brothers as an expert in luxury goods and as a banker in mergers and acquisitions before starting the online company in 2000.