Olivier Amar in The Financial Times

For those inclined to have procedures to attain this, look no further than body sculpting expert Dr Olivier Amar who, from his Chelsea operating theatre, is doing with liposuction what the High Renaissance artists did with their chisels. “Fat is everywhere,” he says enthusiastically.

“By removing a few millimetres around the ankle and then working above on the calves and knees, you can create a great shape,” Amar insists. “Once you have done this kind of contouring, the legs will look much thinner,”