Is 35 too young for a midlife crisis? Perhaps not, writes David Hayes, if rapper and would-be fashion designer Kanye West is anything to go by. West has been sporting a lot of leather lately: not just jackets, but trousers, shirts and even a leather T-shirt. Often all at the same time.

And West is not the only high-profile figure with a taste for leather. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s favourite off-duty attire is a macho leather flight jacket. Even Barack Obama favours a jaunty leather bomber when hopping on and off Air Force One. Peter Marino, the architect and Louis Vuitton store designer, has made a virtue out of top-to-toe leather dressing for decades.

Though the wardrobe choices of the famous have not always won the approval of the fashion police, this season they are proving to be ahead of the trend. Leather was a runway staple at Bottega Veneta, Jil Sander, Hermès, Lanvin and Yves Saint Laurent. But Adam Kelly, menswear buying manager at Selfridges, says it’s not just for the catwalks.