Wigan Borough's heritage is forever entangled in the history of the textile industry. The Spinning Jenny in Leigh ignited the industrial weaving process. Over 10,000 people created beautiful Victorian silk designs woven on domestic hand looms and in weaving sheds. The extraordinary steam engine at Trencherfield Mill was built to power a cotton mill. The canal was etched into the landscape to ship American cotton from Liverpool to Wigan Pier. This story of the textile industry transformed Wigan and Leigh and continues to inspire Mikael Nzembani-Biaka, pictured here in the fashion sewing rooms at Wigan & Leigh College, School for the Arts.