Britney Spears is famed for her skimpy outfits and outlandish wardrobe, so a knitted jumper is the last thing you might expect her to wear.

But Britney is the latest celebrity to make wool cool after she snapped up a creation by a Brighton designer.

Julie Sissons, 44, graduated from a textiles course at the University of Brighton a year ago after specialising in knitwear.

Her clothes are very different from the jumpers your grandmother might have knitted. She has already sold to chic boutiques in London and the US, including the exclusive Vionnet in Los Angeles.

But she was stunned to receive an email saying Britney had bought one of her pink lacy designs.

Julie said: "I put my graduation collection into a show at London Fashion Week and I got orders from two shops. I sent over my first order to LA thinking, 'Oh my God, that's the first one,' then I didn't hear anything for a while.

"I went into an internet cafe and they had sent me an email saying Britney had bought one. I couldn't believe it and I can't wait to see a picture of her in it."

Julie, of Brading Road, Brighton, worked as a tailor and costume maker with designers Alexander McQueen and Shelley Fox before enrolling on the full-time course four years ago.

Despite Britney's admiration for her work, Julie said she had not been tempted to buy any of the star's records.

She said: "I'm not really a teenybopper fan. But it's great to have such a high-profile person wearing my designs.

"I've got to go like the clappers now so I can send off the spring/summer collection but it's great my clothes are selling."

Julie opted for a course in fashion design after working for many years as a pattern cutter and deciding she wanted to work for herself. She said knitwear had dropped its dowdy image and was becoming much more fashionable.

Julie said: "A lot of high-profile designers are using knitwear now and there's a lot about it still to be discovered. It's an exciting time."

At her graduation fashion show last year she said: "It's nothing like what people think jumpers are. It's about looking at new techniques and experimenting with new ideas.

"I have got an experimental approach with printed foil on knitwear and I am trying to develop that more."

Britney has recently found love and become engaged to boyfriend Kevin Federline.

Since then she has hinted she is ready for a more homely role and has been seen taking it easy since knee surgery forced her to cancel her world tour.

The 22-year-old has said: "I definitely want to have some kids. I see myself with four or five."

Julie also runs classes in pattern cutting. For information, call 01273 609695.