Eugene’s first mission for me was as follows: Get on the Eurostar to Paris. Go to Delorme. Buy plain black barrettes. Bring them back to London.

He conveyed this mission with a particular humility that’s unique to Eugene.

He knew what it sounded like, sending someone to Paris to go shopping for hairclips. He’d tried hard to find the particular design the brief called for – completely black and flat, nothing ornate or unusual; deceptively simple. But they were nowhere to be found in London. So, to Paris it was!

I got off the Eurostar at Gare du Nord having smoked myself silly all the way there in the dedicated carriage. When I stepped out of the arrivals gate, lo and behold there was the chauffeur holding a board with my name written on it! Obviously I had been told that was the plan, but actually seeing this man dressed in a black suit and tie walking me to a a brand new Mercedes, driving me through Paris to Le passage de l’Industrie. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before.

I hadn’t been to Paris since I was very young. I had no memory of those visits, apart from a vague recollection of going up the Eiffel Tower. Standing there at Gare du Nord, my name on a board in front of me, it felt like a spiritual homecoming.

I stepped out of the car and in through the glass doors of Delorme. There were very many plain black barrettes, I found the specified shape and style, bought them all and made my way back to London.

It turned out the clips on the inside also needed to be black, but the shape was perfect. We spray painted the clips. To this day I’ve never seen a black barrette with a black metal clip.

Believe me, I’ve been looking!