A designer row

Consumers are actually very intelligent about what they spend their money on. Despite what Wayne Hemingway claims in his Channel 4 film Revolt in Fashion, they will not be hoodwinked into spending hundreds of pounds on an article of clothing they don't think is worth it. And I've yet to see anyone being dragged into the designer stores, which, incidentally, are doing good business.

Yes, the clothes are marked up - but I deny that designer items cost only 10 per cent of their selling price to manufacture. Undoubtedly, part of that mark-up goes to pay for the flagship stores, but most of us think it's worth it; we prefer to shop in a wonderful space and take home clothes that are beautifully packaged.

As for his attack on LVMH and Gucci - "The bigger the advertising budget,
the bigger the rip-off" - they have done an enormous amount to help fashion in the past 10 years. LVMH has revitalised brands such as Celine and Louis Vuitton, recreated Dior and Givenchy. Ask Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen or Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga, all employed by Gucci, whether they have been "tainted by big business". They do not feel stifled. And look at what Galliano has been allowed to do at Dior.

These two large companies have enriched the fashion industry and nobody has benefited more than the high street. Take Tom Ford's current season - all velvet ribbon, black cocktail dresses and fitted velvet jackets - very sexy and easy for the high-street stores such as Top Shop, Zara and Hennes to copy. Yes, the marketing is expensive and slick, but it is there to fuel our desire, and hence high-street profits. Why is that a bad thing?

Hemingway makes the point that buyers, designers and journalists are all "working in an ivory tower" and are part of the "fashion conspiracy"; ie, that fashion writers are not allowed to criticise because they fear the big advertisers and accept too many freebies.

It's true that fashion editors get great discounts but it's not just at designer shops, high-street stores give them, too. We still have to make a choice.

If you asked our advertisers, they would complain that we're not influenced enough. We cover new and British designers who don't have any advertising budgets.

Journalists get banned occasionally from fashion shows for writing a bad review. Suzy Menkes from the Herald Tribune, for instance, has been banned a few times. I think it is ridiculous behaviour by the fashion houses, a very spoilt attitude, and one I would never support. At Vogue, if we don't like a collection as a whole, we won't include it in the magazine. We won't heavily criticise either, but then we're here to show what you should be buying, not what you shouldn't. We also run "hit and miss" articles and look back on seasons to say what worked and what didn't.

As to Hemingway's claim that British fashion has been hijacked by global superlabels, it's nonsense. British fashion is all about small labels: Emma Cook, Roland Mouret, Tata Naka and Sophia Kokosalaki, to name a few. And as someone who has both high-street and designer labels in her wardrobe, I can say it is not true that there is little difference between the two in terms of quality.

There may not be a world of difference in a T-shirt, but there is in a coat, handbag or dress. Designer clothes last longer and wear better. They also hold their value. I wish I'd kept more of my designer labels. However, I've never heard myself say: "Oh, I wish I'd held on to that M&S jumper."

Revolt in Fashion is on Channel 4, 16 November