I used to work in the heart of Soho in central London. Occasionally, I’d walk to the office first thing in the morning and there would already be a queue of young people, sometimes stretching for about 100 yards, outside a shop called Supreme. They were waiting patiently for its doors to open. I learned that this was a clothing shop favoured by skateboarders and urban youths, which started as a small store in New York and turned into a global phenomenon by mastering the art of modern marketing.

That is, it was one of the first brands which recognised that today’s consumer, of all ages, it seems, is motivated by the scarcity of an item as much as its inherent value. And if you can create enough hype around the brand through social media, get a spot of celebrity endorsement and then restrict the supply, you’ve got instant desirability. Before you know it, you’ve got a queue snaking around the streets of London.

The past couple of days have seen, in English cities, the very apogee of this marketing ploy. The........

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