BRIGHTON T-shirt designer Samantha Ruffell-Smith is poised for fashion fame this summer.

Her label, igloo designs, has already caused a stir with companies and individuals snapping up her original T-shirts which she creates in her seafront flat. Now her work is to appear in the film Human Traffic, due for release this summer and widely tipped to become a cult hit. Actors in the movie, about the dance scene, will be wearing seven of her designs, bearing slogans such as "Caution: Hot" and "0 to Naughty in Five Seconds". Her company will be credited and she has been invited to the London premiere after the film gets its first showing at next month's Cannes Film Festival. It stars Andrew Lincoln, who played Egg in the cult TV series This Life, and John Simms from TV's The Lakes. Samantha, 29, first came to Brighton nine years ago and worked at the Grand Hotel and as a marketing assistant at the Royal Pavilion. But she dreamed of making a living from her creative talents and travelled across Europe earning her keep by painting murals and sign writing. She was commissioned by York Museum to paint backdrops to promote its forthcoming exhibitions. Samantha then took a screen-printing course at Hove's Connaught Centre and found she had a talent for creating original work. She won a £250 grant from the Prince's Youth Business Trust to test the market for a T-shirt design company and last year received another £2,000 loan to buy a printing unit. Now igloo designs are in demand and Samantha has clients throughout the UK and in Japan. Samantha is one of the organisers behind an alternative fashion show being staged as part of the Brighton Festival. Progressive, Young, Bold, Talented, takes place next Wednesday at Brighton's Paradox club with shows at 3pm and 7.30pm. It will be the first time igloo designs have appeared on the catwalk. Samantha said: "I just love designing. Sometimes I don't design anything for weeks, but on other occasions I just go mad and create 12 originals in a week."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.