Best of British

HIS FACE OBSCURED by a teetering pile of white china plates, fashion designer Neil Barrett staggers incognito into his studio an hour late. What on Earth is he doing carrying all that crockery?

'Oh, I borrowed a whole heap of plates for Christmas dinner at my place and kept forgetting to bring them back,' he says. 'My assistant told me I absolutely had to bring them in today because all the buyers are coming.'

Barrett is exhausted after burning the midnight oil during Milan's men's fashion week - first preparing for his runway show and then marketing his latest autumn/winter collection to flocks of fashion buyers and press. He drags a couple of chairs into a quieter room and requests a strong cup of heart-starting Italian coffee.

'Please don't stir it,' he pleads with the caterer. 'I like the sugar to stay on the bottom so it goes all caramelly,' he confesses. 'If you stir it, the coffee tastes too sweet.'

Is this man a closet control freak? He certainly prides himself on perfection. His collections are crafted in 24 Italian factories, which he keeps under close supervision. 'We have a specialist trouser factory, a shirt factory, five knit factories, two jersey factories,' says the 41-year-old, who designed menswear for Gucci before launching Prada Uomo in the 1990s and finally setting up his own label in 1999. 'The shoes are made by Italian artisans.'

Barrett's quest for quality and eye for idiosyncrasy have earned him a loyal following - and an A-list celebrity fan base. Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal and Orlando Bloom adore his supple leather jackets, exquisitely crafted but slightly beaten up to give that loved-and-lived-in look. Barrett's label was one of the few to launch with menswear, and he showed his first women's catwalk collection in New York only a year ago.