London mayor Boris Johnson and French president Nicolas Sarkozy should be rejoicing: apparently, their exhortations to shop, shop, shop have not fallen on deaf ears after all. Women's apparel sales fell 6 per cent to $15bn in the US during the first nine months of 2008 but, according to the High Net Worth report from market research agency Ledbury Research, men's wear sales rose 1 per cent to $4bn. Apparently, when the going gets tough, the tough male ... buys clothes.

This is spending that runs counter to what might be expected in a time of rising unemployment and curtailed bonuses. Men's wear designers, tailors and retailers, in a mood of cautious optimism, tell of unexpectedly positive results.

“We're pleased and happy,” says Tom Ford, who launched his men's wear-only line (strong-shouldered, high-priced suits sold in stores that feel like private houses) in April 2007, towards the tail end of the economic boom. “We're holding up well because our clothes are perceived as investments.”