The women who run the high street

These are the eight women who run British high street fashion, being asked how they are going to have us buy, during the credit crunch. Interesting to note that none of these women is size 0 and most of them are, well, my size and shape.

Their success is one reason why our high street remains a world-class symbol of vibrancy. Because if the chains have been partly shaped by us - the stroppy British consumer - then it's because the retail talents on these pages knew how to respond. These are women who developed their passion as fashion-mad youngsters in the Eighties “designer decade” and cut their business teeth in the boom-and-bust early Nineties. They don't see fashion just as a commodity. They wear it, love it and adapt it through good days and fat days, recessions and bull markets. They know what we want because they want it, too. And they all wear their own brands - with the occasional bit of Marni, Margiela, Westwood, Balenciaga and YSL thrown in (hell, they're fashionistas and they're on great salaries).

They will need all their intuition and ballsiness in the coming months as economic factors bite harder. But they reckon they're ready for it.