Jane Davies, who works from her home in Holywell, in Flintshire, is famous for putting the red dragon on the catwalks.

It will give them access to the very latest trend information from premier global fashion events and trade shows including London, Paris and New York

Martin Brown WDA

She has offered her skills to the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and Design Wales to help guide designers.

Seminars have been arranged to predict the styles, colours and trends that will be at the forefront of fashion in the next two years.

Access to what is hot information is usually reserved for the larger fashion houses who attend the major events in London and Paris.

Ms Davies said the workshops were well received: "They were brilliant, I cannot believe how good they were.

"We've had small companies and large firms like Laura Ashley here and people have left buzzing and feeling inspired."

Martin Brown, the WDA's garment and textile manager, said the scheme was a great opportunity for Welsh design.

Shirley Bassey made wearing a flag fashionable

"It will give them access to the very latest trend information from premier global fashion events and trade shows including London, Paris and New York."

Jane Davies has seen a huge increase in demand for her designs since she began tailoring a simple party dress for her niece cut entirely from the national flag.

Dame Shirley Bassey kicked off the craze to wear the patriotic designs after wearing a dress with the Welsh emblem at the Rugby World Cup's opening ceremony in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The fashion connoisseur hopes the information she passes on will help individual businesses to interpret the relevant trend information and boost their sales.

Jane Davies said the colours will be very different for the autumn 2004 season: "Black for women will be in with deep, deep red, navy and green."

The designer has just returned from America where she has been promoting her Welsh design.

"It went really well, Wales has been represented in America as love spoons and miners lamps," she said.