Donald John Mackay has been weaving through the 40 years of decline, and was among those credited with turning it around.

He was one of the first to secure the move to new uses for Harris Tweed, when Nike ordered 9,000 metres of his design to include in a range of its shoes. His contribution to the industry has since been recognised in the Honours List.

He works at his shed beside his home in Luskentyre, Harris. And he air max shoes argues that the decline was due to an ageing workforce, the market shrinking and a failure to market it.

It wasn't the product at fault, he says. "It was just that people didn't know about it, perhaps."

The self-employed weavers, who have for generations worked at sheds on their crofts to supplement meagre earnings from agriculture, could see little future in that.The decline was accelerated following the sale of the main mill, in Stornoway on Lewis, to Yorkshire businessman Brian Haggas. He cut the number of patterns from several thousand to only four, intended solely for cheap nike dunk he gents' jacket market.

Brian Wilson was part of the Harris Tweed Hebrides consortium that bought a mothballed tweed mill at Shawbost, on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis.

In 2008, two years after Mr Haggas began to implement his strategy, the new rival began production. It now controls around 90% of the market.

Mr Wilson, executive chairman of Harris Tweed Hebrides, recently  air max 90 picked up two of the top trophies at the UK Fashion and Textiles Awards.

With the better prospects for Harris Tweed, the third and smallest mill, at Carloway on Lewis, recently attracted Chinese investment.