Hebridean mill lands Spielberg film role

Published on Saturday 12 June 2010 20:20

IT IS tucked away down a country lane, boasts only five staff and relies on machinery dating back to the Victorian era.

Yet the tiny woollen mill on the Hebridean island of Islay has carved out a handy sideline in work for the international film industry.

Now the mill is celebrating its biggest coup after being asked to supply costumes for legendary director Steven Spielberg's latest blockbuster.

Tweed outfits worn by soldiers in the Oscar-winning filmmaker's forthcoming epic War Horse will be supplied by Islay Woollen Mill.

Owner Gordon Covell secured the deal thanks to a long-standing relationship with Hollywood costume designer Joanna Johnston, who is based in England.

The connection led to Islay wool tweed outfits being worn by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump and Tom Cruise in Far And Away, while Covell also landed deals to provide tartan and tweed outfits for Braveheart and Rob Roy.

Covell said: "I've done quite a bit of work in the past with Joanna, who is well known in Hollywood and has worked on all kinds of big films over the years.

"She just rang me up the other week to tell me she was involved in Steven Spielberg's latest film and to ask for a new sample for a tweed costume, and the order came from there.

"She knows the kind of thing that we do here. The tweed has been designed to fit the look of that early 20th century era. It's a lovely rich dark colour, with green stripes, and we're making 12 metres of tweed for War Horse.

"We don't particularly do this kind of work for financial reasons, but it's something a bit different for us and is obviously pretty good for publicity."

The woollen mill on Islay, which has been visited by the Queen and Prince Charles in recent years, was first established in 1883. It has been run by Covell and his family since they revived it in the stone building in 1981.

War Horse will be one of two major films that Spielberg unveils next year, along with his long-awaited Tintin movie.