“I’ve always preferred the creative process of designing and selling clothes to the idea of putting on a poncey fashion show,” the 63-year-old explains, his dandyish coiffure at odds with his hearty Nottingham accent. “It would be wonderful if fashion shows died out completely. They’re so time-consuming and costly.”

It is an idea that would devastate lesser designers. “It’s their 15 minutes of fame: pure, self-indulgent theatre. How many girls were there this year in horns or neck braces with bare breasts? It wouldn’t matter if they didn’t take it all so seriously, but the fashion world is a dangerous, superficial and fickle place.”