One of the reasons why London Fashion Week has flourished under him, they say, is his ability to marry 40 years of commercial understanding with an appreciation that high fashion often isn’t remotely commercial. He has nothing but praise for the role of the DTI in its success, despite widespread criticisms that the government failed for years to promote one of Britain’s most successful exports. Silver, diplomatically, will only say that the funding was “modest” when he arrived.”He has this understanding of the industry. Sometimes people have the enthusiasm but don’t understand,” says Rocha. “He has patience, too, with the younger generation which I think is very important because they are the foundation of the future.”One example of this is Antonio Berardi, one of the most watched young British designers. Priyesh Shah, the designer’s 26-year-old business partner, says that, after graduating in 1994, they boldly asked for a meeting with Silver and, having been granted three-quarters of an hour, stayed for four.”It’s unusual for someone at his level to give new designers that much time, and it definitely gave us confidence.” Since then Silver has stayed in touch “He sends us letters, monitors our progress, answers calls.

He put us on to his accountants and made an appointment with the director. He sits there at his big desk, looks through his roller thing and makes the calls. He calls me Mr Shah.”Shah adds that Silver “will sit row C, rather than row A if need be” at shows – a statement that says more about fashion’s curious status symbols than Silver’s man-of-the-people credentials.Not all young British designers are so unequivocal in their praise. The council’s decision to hand a key slot in Fashion Week to the American designer Tommy Hilfiger last year caused dissent. Hilfiger, accompanied by various supermodels, swallowed yards of newsprint.

The event gained publicity but lost the goodwill of some young designers who felt that the slot should have been given to a Briton, especially as Silver sits on Hilfiger’s board.Silver replies: “I’m very clear on this It was just a slot And we’re trying to build up our international status. You can be critical of [Hilfiger] coming, but my answer was that the logical alternative is to say ‘No foreigners’.” No one, Silver points out, has complained about this week’s appearance by Italian line Miu Miu.Clinton Silver claims his is “the most boring cv in the world”. Born in London in 1929, he was educated at temporary war-time schools in Hackney before getting an economics degree at Southampton University. After two years of national service, he began work at Marks & Spencer and stayed for 41 years, a tenure that seems unthinkable in today’s job market but is unremarkable in Marks & Spencer “I’m passionate about the company.