Israel’s fashion industry may once have been best known for stunning swimwear but today the country’s designers are making much more creative contributions to the world of fashion.

Ever since Primark and its wannabe high street rivals started offering popular items at laughably low prices, the thrill of picking up a bargain has diminished. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t compelling reasons for some savvy shopping as the mark-downs begin, with top designer brands and high street prices slashed by up to 50 per cent.

It may seem perverse to have swimwear and beachwear on these pages in December — and apologies if all the bare flesh has brought on an acute case of goosebumps. But we are fast approaching that time of year when many less credit-crunched readers will be heading off to Eluthera, Eilat or the Indian Ocean for a spot of winter sun and will be anxious to know where they can top up their stock of bikinis, one-pieces and poolside cover-ups.

When you need to seriously raise the glamour quotient of a plain dress or a pair of on-trend trousers and top, the season’s hottest accessories are the instant way to do it.

Ok, we may not celebrate Christmas, but we do have Chanucah and New Year’s Eve (and, potentially, an office Christmas do), so we are far from exempt from the pressure of finding the fabulous frock for that December soirée or cocktail party.

This Sunday, Anna Wintour, the legendary editor of American Vogue, star of recent frockudrama The September Issue, and arguably the most powerful woman on Planet Fashion, will reach her 60th birthday.

I think we can all safely assume she will not be casting off her Prada and Burberry, donning an elastic-waist velour track suit and putting her feet up with a mug of cocoa and a copy of Saga magazine.

In Israel he is the doyen of graphic shapes, monochrome and drape, with 12 minimalist shops from Rehovot to Haifa, via Tel Aviv (two), Jerusalem (two), Ranaana and Herzliya.

Last Thursday he formally inaugurated his first London shop in New Quebec Street with a bash for a coterie of fashion and media chums; high-flying Israeli ex-pats; and a handful of celebs, including Kristina Rihanoff from Strictly Come Dancing, Avshalom Gur, former head of design at Ossie Clark and Israel’s high-octane celebrity model Hofit Golan.

Trousers and their skinny counterparts, leggings, jeggings and treggings, may be in the ascendant on Planet Fashion, but in the real world, the Little Day Dress (or LDD) is what we are all reaching for this autumn if we want to look fabulously pulled together and on-trend.

You have splurged on the fabulous coat, purchased the pencil skirt, bought a biker jacket and are getting your eye in with animal prints, sharp shoulders and the season’s new trouser shapes. Yup, you have ticked all the key fashion boxes; you have winter 09/10 nailed. And then realisation dawns — what are you going to put on your feet to make all these fabulous new pieces work and look totally on-trend?

If you thought all shapewear was an evil re-creation of medieval methods of torture, designed to crush your rib-cage and prevent you from breathing, you have probably not discovered the USA’s newest and most on-trend collection of shapewear, Yummie Tummie.