"All we wanted to do was develop a new kind of footwear that used sports technology, but that people could wear every day," he says.The trainers are a visual feast, with references as diverse as Evel Knievel's Velcro-fastened motorcycling boots, to puffa jackets and work boots, as well as from mainstream trainers. He talks sole units, uppers, price points and construction with a broad Leeds accent and a jingle of his chunky silver jewellery. This is a designer who doesn't talk about ethereal creativity. When he talks about this monumental effort there is a twinkle in his eye. But his burning ambition was always Stride.Once they decided on a name and a logo for their sneakers it took two years, five prototypes, several trips to Korea, and more than pounds 250,000 to launch Stride. The first to leave his stable were Herbert Toe and Judi Toe, named after his mother and father, which fused traditional cobbling methods with hi- tech soles. The only decent shoes cost at least pounds 175, and everyone was wearing biker boots, so we designed something we wanted to wear and could actually afford."He teamed up with a friend, Craig Tate, to form a traditional, but fashion-based men's and women's company called Nicholas Deakins, which is still in business, although Deakin left in 1994 to pursue his own lines.

"There was nothing around that we wanted to buy in the early Nineties. Rather than taking the traditional route via a footwear college such as Hackney's Cordwainers, he came at design from a commercial point of view. Stride sneakers have only been on sale for six weeks, and are selling out so quickly from shops across Europe that Deakin and his partner (in business and in love), Linzi Boyd, are grinning from ear to ear.Leeds-born Deakin has been in the shoe business since 1990, when he was a buyer for a local fashion store. Judged the Best New Designer for 1997 at the recent Footwear Awards, his range of techno sneakers, Stride, is on show in the Review Gallery at the Design Museum. This is no mean feat. Sitting on a bright yellow inflatable sofa in his ultra-modern studio space in north London, the 27-year-old shoe designer Justin Deakin looks like a bright-eyed young thing with the earnestness of a Bisto Kid Except he is no newcomer Deakin is the hottest footwear designer of the moment.

UK retail sales of champagne, 1991-96m litres pounds m1991 11.7 4251992 11.8 4101993 12.3 4001994 12.7 4301995 12.6 4801996(est) 15.0 550Source: MintelWhich, if any, of these best describe your attitude to champagne?Only for special occasions 52%Good for a romantic occasion 24Good for a treat 22 Makes a special gift 22 Too expensive 22 Only for Christmas or New Year 21 Dont like the taste 15 Like the taste 13 Good for mixing 12 Prefer the taste of sparkling wine 10 Good for drinking with a meal 8 Own label products just as good as main brands 7 Good for drinking before a meal 6 Goes to my head 5 Only for the super rich 3 Gives me a hangover 2 None of these 6 Don't know 1Source: BMRB/Mintel. Whatever, sales of the fizzy stuff are on the increase again ... For New Labour, New Drinkers, it has been a time for celebration and champagne; for everyone else, an excuse to drown sorrows. Match your room colours by using curtain or upholstery fabric off-cuts, or reflect the seasons by changing fabrics for Summer and Winter Handmade to order from Farrago, pounds 39.95. pounds 49.95.Alcohol wipes, branches of Boots the ChemistSkip the daily cleaning routine of the big office and instead wipe your desktop, telephone and mouse antiseptic-clean once in a while with alcohol wipes.Victorian Notice Board, Farrago (01491 573436)According to Knoll, executives spend six weeks a year looking for lost information Try a Victorian noticeboard. Hang the briefcase from a hook and its concertina of files falls into a vertical filing cabinet which occupies no more space than a coat hanging on your door. Outside, Snapfile is a briefcase; inside, it is a filing system with files that clip in and out as you need them.

pounds 100.Snapfile, The Conran Shop (0171-589 7401)Briefcase and filing cabinet in one. Rests over any chair like a saddle, responding to the user and returning to its original form seconds after use. Try the Surf Lumbar Support, made of heat-reactive foam developed for use in fighter planes. Around pounds 350 is a starting price for Citterio's latest model, while Eames will set you back nearer pounds 1,000 for the best leather and aluminium finishes.Knoll International Surf Collection designed by Ross Lovegrove and Stephen Peart (0171-236 6655)No sharp edges or angles; instead, soft biomorphic shapes that help to maintain the body neutral position.