In a canny marketing move, Cath Kidston has celebrated its 20th anniversary today by decorating 6000 of London’s Barclays Cycle Hire bikes with cutesy saddle covers. 

Unlikely to be particularly useful today given the hot, dry weather, those little scraps of fabric – which Boris bike users can keep and use to protect their bottoms on less clement days – will, however, subtly remind the city of the seemingly unending love that exists for all things kitsch and Kidston.

For although we sometimes scorn at Cath Kidston and all it represents – does the Cath Kidston woman, so festooned in flowers, do anything but drink tea and plan glamping trips? – the brand is resolutely popular. 

So popular, in fact, that one in four British women now owns a Cath Kidston product. And Cath Kidston herself is a very wealthy and powerful woman, who, although she sold her majority share in 2010, remains creative director of a brand worth £89m.