Belstaff's coats were tempting in earth-tone shearlings for every lifestyle, and KaufmanFranco wrapped a tough-girl muse in a little luxury, lining a black leather driving coat with mink.
They acknowledge their heroes who pulled in "30 million viewers a year every Christmas" but there is a jovial, irreverent tone that avoids charges of servility.
Both the BBC and the website of the Guardian newspaper in the UK soon picked up the baton, and the Guardian in particular cultivated a unique tone and community among its sportswriters and readers, who pore over every minute of a football match or cricket games in over-by-over mini-reports.