And then there’s the forthcoming spring/summer 2002 season the round of international fashion shows from which she has just come back

And then there’s the forthcoming spring/summer 2002 season, the round of international fashion shows from which she has just come back. “I was very disappointed with London,” she says, with a disdainful, unamused tone. “I liked Roland Mouret, I’m a big fan of what he does, and Carlos Miele because I know it will sell. Oh, and I also liked Eley Kishimoto for its sweetness.”Mrs B is a lot more enthusiastic about her trips to Milan and Paris, citing Junya Watanabe, Marni (“uplifting”), Roberto Cavalli (“such fun”), Dries van Noten, and Adam Jones (John Galliano’s ex-knitwear designer) as her favourites for next season. But the post-11 September political and social climate has already had its repercussions “It has affected business.

It’s affected our buying for next season; we’ve ordered less because of the uncertainty. It has been difficult to cut back because there was so much that I liked If peace comes soon, we can put more orders in. Who knows what will happen? Last year was the best trading year we’ve ever had.”Despite working in an industry increasingly worried about world events, Mrs B shows no signs of giving up. “I love my work! And when I’m not working I enjoy travelling, especially in Australia and Asia I love the theatre, I’m determined to go every week I love gardening. I have a house in the East Hamptons where I go for two months in the summer It is my escape. I walk the beach, I garden – I’m not social, I’m not a Hamptonite.”This brings me to my last question: how does the lady with the world’s fashion designers at her fingertips decide what to wear? “I’m impossible.

The night before I go away, I’m running around driving the workroom mad. I like dressing other people but I’m very bad about dressing myself.” Of course, she would say that but Mrs B looks beautiful in a toffee-coloured cashmere twinset by Malo and her neck twinkling with tiny gold discs dangling from a Marie-H?ne de Taillac necklace. “Because of my life, I do a lot of travelling so I’ve got to be comfortable I love Zoran Women who wear Zoran wear it with assurance It’s very simple, yet stunning I go for simplicity. My wardrobe is full of Zoran, Jil Sander trousers, cashmere from Malo I used to love Jean Muir when she was alive. Sonia Rykiel suits me.”It’s now late afternoon, and Mrs B is having her picture taken, sitting on a windowsill covered in Fendi Baguette bags and laughing as I try on a women’s Christian Dior jacket.