When Mulberry released a handbag named after the model Alexa Chung, it became the must-have accessory for "it" girls and was credited with helping the luxury fashion brand emerge from the global financial crisis. More than a decade later, the label is now facing the prospect of a takeover by Mike Ashley, the billionaire retail tycoon better known for cheap tracksuits and giant mugs. Mulberry, which is majority-owned by a Singapore-based billionaire hotelier, has so far resisted the swoop by Ashley's Frasers Group, saying his £83m offer undervalues the brand. But few expect the pugnacious Sports Direct tycoon to back down, putting one of Britain's best-known luxury brands at the heart of a power struggle. If Mulberry's reputation as a British fashion powerhouse reached its apogee in the supermodel era of the noughties, its popularity has been rather more subdued in recent years.