Whatever its appeal, custom clothing won't bring an end to the tailor's chalk. There will always be those who want - and can pay for - the theatre of couture, a garment designed for them and lovingly hand-stitched. Which is why American gents will continue to visit Savile Row, and why plane-loads of Manhattan's wealthiest stick insects will fly into Milan and Paris for the couture shows twice a year.

Predicting the future is a notoriously haphazard affair. It's 2002, after all, and we aren't living in pods and dining on pills. Accepting smart cards, bossy coat-hangers, computer-designed frocks and our own digital twins will take time. For the industry and investors, mass customisation is a risk - a flutter on the schmutter. But if we can learn to love a personalised, market-of-one world where we order computers from Dell, cars from Citroën and Ford, then we might learn to wait for our clothes. We could throw away our desire for instant gratification and embrace heightened anticipation.

Fitting Images
This is a screen shot of the virtual shopping service developed by Bodymetrics commercial spin-off from UCL. After entering her 3-D body data onto the database the customer selects clothes to 'try on'. Her virtual twin pops up, modelling the outfit, and the system recommends the best size. The customer hits the order button and the clothes will be delivered to her.

ROBO-SHOP
Forget about the communal changing room. One day high-street shoppers could have made-to-measure outfits, courtesy of the body-scanning booth. After stripping down to her underwear (above), the customer will stand in a booth under light sensors. In less than 12 seconds, a 3-D computer image (right) will be generated, giving 150 body measurements. The 3-D image can then be encoded, linked to software, and downloaded to a factory, ready for the automatic pattern-cutter. For the moment, though, this high-tech body-scanning approach has been only used in Britain as part of the National Sizing Survey, and by a military outfitter.