Perhaps it is ironic that in London Fashion week, a man who crafted one of the most beautiful and enriching football tapestries should be left watching the seams of his work unravel.

While the next set of trendsetters sit with their heads craned towards the catwalk across some of the capital's plushest venues, one of football's great designers was left shrouded under a cloak of misery on a cold February night in north London.

As Arsene Wenger trudged off down the Emirates tunnel, his side soundly beaten 3-1 by Bayern Munich in the first leg of its last-16 Champions League clash Tuesday, perhaps the reality had at last set in.

Outplayed and outclassed, the seemingly unstoppable chasm between Arsenal and Europe's elite shows no sign of stopping.

When Wenger arrived as a virtual unknown at Arsenal in October 1996, few had the foresight to imagine just how this professorial figure would redefine the game in England.

While his look may have suggested a more school teacher like approach, the reality was anything but.

It was art. From knitting together one of the most wonderfully aesthetic sides to have graced the Premier League and embroidering it with gems such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and the other strands of brilliance, Wenger brought about a renaissance period in English football.

To watch Wenger's Arsenal in its pomp was something joyful to behold, a privilege and a delight.

And yet while it was easy on the eye, this team was made of such strong fabric, resilient, interwoven with the DNA of winners.

Those were the days when Bergkamp would produce moments to take your breath away, pirouetting on a sixpence and scoring a goal which would leave you open mouthed.

Thierry Henry would have you believe he was from a different planet with an outrageous flick, run and finish, while the gladiatorial Patrick Vieira would give Arsenal the heart it so sorely lacks today.

The likes of Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole, players who would excite, produce when it mattered. They were winners.

This makes it all the more galling for Arsenal fans, who have watched their club fall dramatically from the days where it produced some of the most scintillating football ever witnessed in the Premier League.

During the 2003/4 season, Arsenal went through an entire season unbeaten, winning 26 and drawing 12 of their 38 league games, cruising to the title by 11 points. That team was labeled 'The Invincibles'.

Those days seem a lifetime ago. Not since its FA Cup win in 2005 has Arsenal managed to win a trophy -- a fact which Wenger is reminded of almost daily whenever he lifts a newspaper or turns on the radio.

The three Premier League titles and four FA Cup trophies are part of yesteryear as is the club's appearance in the 2006 Champions League final, where it was beaten by Barcelona.

In a society which demands instant gratification, Wenger is losing the battle.

Held up as a beacon of financial prudence and a club ideally positioned for the advent of the FFP rules, Arsenal is constantly applauded for the way it conducts itself.

But while the bank accounts might be full, the trophy cabinet continues to gather dust as frustration grows over the lack of progress made on the pitch.

The sale of star players such as Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas has only exacerbated the fact that Arsenal can no longer compete with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea over an entire season.

Being dumped out of the League Cup, the country's third most important domestic competition, by a Bradford side in the bottom rung of English football, was humiliating.

Crashing out at home to first division Blackburn in the prestigious FA Cup was another embarrassing episode in a season which is unraveling at an alarming pace.

But against Bayern, a team seemingly cruising to domestic title success, there was a chance for redemption.

A lesser club than Bayern might have wilted under the disappointment of losing last year's Champions League final inside its own stadium in such heartbreaking fashion.

The penalty shoot out defeat by Chelsea left its players crushed, devastated and bewildered after it had dominated for so much of the contest.