‘As far as I know, Bill is going to Galliano,’ Jones told the Telegraph. ‘He is already creative director there, so he will be just at Galliano, not at Dior. He was handed this hideous thing that he never wanted to deal with in the first place. He never wanted to be a great diva designer... he’s a nice guy and he’ll live a lot longer if he just does Galliano.’

Jones, who created the added that he is ‘fascinated to see what Raf does at Dior.’

Beyond the chess game of Paris fashion, Jones said he anticipates a bumper summer for hats, thanks to the convergence of Ascot, the Diamond Jubilee and all the events surrounding the Olympics.

‘In every street party up and down the land, people will be wearing funny hats, putting something on their heads: because it’s become a form of celebration,’ he said.

Those headpieces will have to be of a more formal degree for Ascot than for street parties, of course. Ascot organisers have imposed a stricter dress code for the 2012 season, prohibiting miniskirts, fascinators and strapless dresses from the most formal of racing events (watch a video illustrating the dress-code changes below). Jones endorsed the changes.

‘It was done so that women didn’t appear as though they were going to a cocktail party,’ he said. ‘It’s a race event, in the morning, so why on earth would you want to wear a strapless cocktail dress? Especially when it’s probably going to be pouring with rain anyway.’

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