1995 was a major year for things we’re still influenced by. Windows 95 was launched. The first PlayStation was released. And Tom Ford , then 34 and creative director of Gucci , sent models down the autumn/winter 1996 runway in endless, midnight-coloured velvet – all slicked hair, golden eyeshadow and cinched-in waists. At the time, Vogue dubbed the show the “fashion equivalent of a one-night stand at Studio 54” (complimentary). Sales for Gucci very quickly soared by 90 per cent.

And so, the latter end of the ’90s became defined by velvet trousers. See also: Jean Paul Gaultier’s autumn/winter 1995 “cyber” collection, or the draped velvet suiting on Giorgio Armani’s autumn/winter 1998 runway. Everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow (famously) and Sarah Jessica Parker were on board, and th

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