IT was a top secret mission.

But staff at a Huddersfield textile firm have completed their 007 task in style.

They had been challenged to turn hard-wearing Harris Tweed into a trendy must-have fashion item.

Dyer and finisher WT Johnson has given a technological twist to the iconic Harris Tweed hacking jacket worn by Sean Connery in the 1964 Bond movie Goldfinger.

The Moldgreen-based company has proved that Diamonds Are Forever by completing the unique project to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Anthony Sinclair, the Savile Row tailoring firm which designed all Connery’s outfits for the Bond movies, asked Harris Tweed Textiles, based at The Carloway Mill on Scotland’s Isle of Lewis, to supply cloth for a new take on the original hacking jacket worn by Bond during the famous scene in the film where he drives his Aston Martin DB5 through mountains while trailing Goldfinger.

In turn, WT Johnson, which employs 95 people at its Bankfield Mills premises, was approached by Malcolm Campbell, Yorkshire-based sales and marketing director at Harris Tweed Mill, to finish the cloth, which had to be water resistant, anti-bacterial and lighter than the traditional fabric.

Alan Dolley, Johnson’s technical manager, developed a way to embed the cloth with tiny particles – similar to those used in Teflon – to allow water to roll off the material rather than soak into it. Micro-particles of silver were also introduced to act as an anti-bacterial agent, keeping the jacket smooth and fresh.

Now the hand-made jackets are expected to be a hit with wealthy buyers around the world when they go on sale for between £2,000 and £2,500 each.

Mr Campbell, who has been working with WT Johnson on the project since July 2010, said the specially-finished material could also be used for upholstery and luggage as well as clothing.

“It has been very well received by the top chains, such as Harrods.” he said. “The Japanese love it and we will also be taking it to Saks in New York. Other markets we will be looking at include Korea, India, Scandinavia, Brazil and China.

“We are talking to Scottish hotel operators and the Donald Trump organisation about supplying Harris Tweed upholstery.”

Said Mr Campbell:. “What we have created with WT Johnson has never existed before.

“We have brought cloth from the Isle of Lewis 600 miles to Huddersfield to be finished using the skills and talents of Alan Dolley and his team.”

The two firms also teamed up to provide three metres of Harris Tweed micro-encapsulated with fragments of diamonds to send on behalf of the workers of both companies to the Queen as a gift for her Diamond Jubilee.

A flat cap and a ‘fascinator’ hair accessory in the same diamond dust cloth were also sent to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Mr Campbell said the diamond dust cloth would sell for £1,500 to £1,600 a metre if it went on sale, but added: “It won’t be commercially available. It’s only for the Queen.”

Paul Johnson, managing director at WT Johnson, said: “As a business, we are always keen to involve ourselves in projects from start to finish because then the client gets the best value from what we bring to the party.

“Harris Tweed is a very traditional product and there are very specific ways you go about weaving and finishing it.

“It is a robust cloth, but it is not best known for being comfortable. We have increased the comfort factor which makes it more desirable to a younger audience.

“We have been able to make this particular cloth a lot softer and a little more luxurious without affecting the hang or appearance of the fabric.”

Speaking about the firm’s royal assignment, Mr Johnson said: “We were able to embed some diamond fragments into the Harris Tweed – but knowing that diamonds are among the hardest materials on earth we had to be very careful which of our machines we used!”