OUR main photograph was taken in May of 1967 at the height of Swinging London.

The cravat-wearing man between the two models is Detroit-born fashion designer Hylan Booker whose acclaimed work was among the most sought-after in the capital at the time.

He was about to compete against - and beat - five other British designers in New York for a prestigious Yardley Award.

The designer, who headed the House of Worth company during the decade, has also gone down in history as among the first - and possibly the first - African American to work as a high-profile couturier on this side of the Atlantic.

He is also one of the many globally significant people with a Swindon connection.

In our1967 story we said: “Hylan first became interested in art while at the Cass Technical School in Detroit, Michigan.

“But, like his twin brother, he joined the US Air Force.

“‘I wanted to be a pilot but the higher mathematics was too much for me,’ Hylan recalls. ‘So they made me a policeman. My brother is still in the USAF as a technician. He is going to Japan soon.’

“But Hylan was posted to Fairford. He worked shifts and in his spare time began the studies at the Swindon School of Art at The College that were to change his whole life.”

The designer said: “They were really good to me at Swindon. I was allowed to attend whatever classes I could get to.

“I would never have made the grade without their help.”

He enrolled at the college in 1958 and stayed for almost three years.

Mr Booker initially couldn’t decide whether to become a sculptor or a dress designer.

“Then,” we said, “in quick succession Hylan was accepted as a student at the Royal College of Art, married a Scottish ice skater and returned to America as his three-year tour of duty in Britain ended.

“Stationed on the West Coast, he was promoted to airman first class.

“His wife, Thomasina, travelled to the States but pined for Britain. So Hylan decided to quit the USAF and return here to study at the Royal College of Art.”

Countless images of Mr Booker’s designs can be found online, along with many newspaper and magazine articles.

The most recent of these is a piece in the Los Angeles Times from 2011.

By that time he was 72, had retired from fashion and worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.