Smaller fashion companies like Versace are under the most pressure, because they lack the financial firepower and economies of scale that larger rivals are tapping to ride out Japan's economic woes.
The economic reverse is opening up spare capacity on a scale that will exert big downward pressure on prices even though the steep fall in the value of the pound has made imports dearer.
The two events are linked by a large-scale pattern of atmospheric circulation which is producing a particularly persistent area of high pressure over Russia.