Stella McCartney

Comfort is treated as a design problem here rather than as a compromise. Stella McCartney's womenswear is built from shapes a woman can actually move in — a trouser with room through the leg, a dress that skims rather than grips, knitwear cut generously — and the interest comes from proportion and fabric instead of from embellishment. It is a wardrobe made for long days, which is why the same pieces read as easily at a desk as they do out for the evening.

Accessories are governed by the same materials rule: no leather, fur, feathers or exotic skins anywhere in the range. Handbags are made from woven and coated textiles and recycled synthetics, while shoes take their height and grip from wood and rubber. The results hold a graphic outline rather than a slouchy one, and chain and hardware do most of the decorating.