This much I know: Paul Costelloe

My first memory is of rain.

I’d been left outside in my pram in the back garden of our house in Booterstown in Dublin.

It started to rain and I remember looking up at the drops through the leaves.

When I was seventeen I left school and worked in a bacon factory for a year. To make a man of me.

My ideal weekend would be spent with my family in a small hotel we have found on the beach in Brittany. I’d paint and swim and get some peace.

I settled on a career in fashion by a process of elimination. I loved to paint and was always good at art in school. But I knew it would be tough to earn a living from it.

My father owned a raincoat factory in Dublin and I was fascinated by the materials they used.

That might be what gave me the idea of making clothes and began my passion for fabric.

Being true to your own style and keeping things as simple as possible makes for the best design. I detest things that are over designed.

I love film. Especially anything by Guillermo del Toro.

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is the book currently by my bedside table. I’m not a big reader, I’m more of a visual person, but that book is a work of art. My guilty pleasure is reading the gossip pages in all the London freesheets.

‘The Meeting Place’ at St Pancras Station is my current favourite piece of design. It’s a huge 40 foot bronze sculpture of a couple meeting by Paul Daly. I love the sheer size of it and the detailing on the couple’s clothes.

I am certainly not frugal but I don’t spend much cash on myself. Most of my money goes on the children’s education. Good London schools are very expensive.

My wife Anne has made the best of very little in our home. I call it basic but I suppose you could make it sound smart by calling it ‘minimalist’. We do wonders with flowers and candles, though.

My greatest ambition is to have an exhibition of my paintings. I do impressionistic watercolours.

Don’t forget your sense of humour and don’t lose touch with your old friends if you’re in a couple. If you are creative, find someone you trust to do the financials. And, play a sport. That’s my advice on keeping sane, solvent and fit. I keep fit by cycling eight miles into work, from Putney to my shop in Knightsbridge.

The best life advice I ever received? Trust your instincts.

If designing was not an option, I think I would work in cinema. Or painting, although that’s a bit solitary for me to do full-time.

The one outfit I put on that always makes me feel good? My jeans, trainers and a white cotton shirt.

I don’t practice religion by going to church every Sunday but I do occasionally visit Catholic churches. I like the peace and the smell of incense. I often sit in churches when I’m abroad.

The thing I like most about myself is that I treat everybody equally. My worst trait is probably my impatience.

If I could only buy one interiors label for my house it would have to be Orla Kiely. I love the simplicity and innocence of her designs.

And if there was only one clothing label — well I would have said Armani but now I’d go for Dolce and Gabbana. I admire the strength of their tailoring and their simple cuts. That is what I strive to achieve.

* Paul Costelloe is one of the most established names in fashion. Clients have included Lady Diana, Liza Minelli and Sophie Rhys-Jones. He has also designed for Aer Lingus and British Airways.