Say “skinny jeans” to someone who came of age in the 1970s and you may notice a strange look flicker across their face. It is the look of a person who has suffered for fashion; someone who achieved the voguish look of their youth by shrinking their 501s in the only way then possible: by sitting in a bath of cold water for hours… and hours.

Mercifully shrink-to-fit clothes soon went the way of the flairs and mullets which preceded them – or so it seemed until this week. You can now buy a pair of shrinking trainers. The new Reebok U-form+, exclusive to InterSport, are made of a synthetic mesh which, with the application of a hairdryer for two minutes, form themselves to your foot. Apparently, the “custom-fit” shoes give the competitive runner an edge on their normal trainer-wearing peers. Sound too much of a faff for you? Well, at least it doesn’t involve a bath…