Did fashion designers know something many economists didn't last spring? Whether it was prescience or plain old luck, the autumn/winter women's wear collections are packed to the hilt with chunky, protective knits that coincide perfectly with the current psychological need to retrench.

"Chunky knits are both glamorous and practical, an essential for any modern wardrobe as they are so easy to throw on and go," says Toni Spencer, one half of the design duo behind Velvet and Graham & Spencer, who this season brought us waffle-textured jumpers, double-breasted knit coats and ribbed sweater dresses. "There is nothing like being wrapped in a cocoon of cashmere for cheering oneself up."