The fashion business consultant and author Toby Meadows. Pawan Singh / The National

If I were to collect art it would have to be the Czech artist Mucha and his stunning illustrations and posters from the 1920s. Getty Images / Gallo Images

If I didn't live in the UK I would alternate between a beach house in the Caribbean and a farmhouse in Tuscany. iStockphoto.com

I adore my Panama hat. Another classic in terms of design.iStockphoto.com

I love thrillers. The older I get and the more I travel the more I find I look to British things. The influence this little island has had on the world is remarkable. Courtesy Hodder & Stoughton

I could spend all day on the Restoration Hardware web site. I'm taken with this 1930s French postal workers desk. Courtesy RestorationHardware.com

Katy Rowland is definitely on the rise after recently winning UK Young British Jewellery Designer of the Year. Courtesy Katy Rowland

I have many favourite designers including Yasmin Kianfar (pictured) and Georgia Hardinge. Courtesy Yasmin Kianfar

I love these limited edition Swami's for Orlebar Brown trunks. Great quality and style, very quick to dry and they remind me of hanging out at Mullins Bay in Barbados. Courtesy Swamis.com

The last music I downloaded was an American band called Young The Giant. I love their track My Body. Courtesy Roadrunner Records

I love Le Touqet, an old farmhouse near Bergerac in south-west France. The first time we went there Alice was pregnant with Mae, and we've been going there for a couple of weeks during the summer ever since. It's tranquil and completely different from the rest of our lives. Courtesy Toby Meadows

I'm a big fan of the British designer Oliver Spencer and his heritage take on geek chic tailoring. I own a lot of his shirts and jackets. Getty Images / Gallo Images

We stayed at the Royal Westmoreland in Barbados and hired in a chef. He cooked traditional food for us.iStockphoto.com

My ring is rose-gold and totally plain. Alice used her grandmother's ring and had it engraved with her initials and those of her grandmother. Pawan Singh / The National

My wedding suit was by an Iranian designer who runs the label Pose London. Courtesy Toby Meadows

These Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars are one of the greatest examples of product design. I must have 14 or 15 pairs. Pawan Singh / The National

I've got the laptop bag, wheely hand-luggage bag, wash-bag - even my pencil case is Muji. I love the integrity of Japanese design: everything fits and serves a purpose. Pawan Singh / The National

It took me a long time to find sunglasses to suit me and now I have I'm hooked on my Ray-Bans. Pawan Singh / The National

Style file: Toby Meadows

Laura Collins

For the past 15 years Toby Meadows, 37, has acted as consultant to some of the biggest designers and brands in the fashion business, from Gap, Zara and Topshop to Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen. He is the founder and director of Three's Company Creative Consultancy as well as a director of the London-based womenswear label Belle & Bunty (the childhood nicknames of the designers Alice Shreever, 31 - Meadows's wife - and Hannah Coniam). He and Alice live in north London with daughters Mae, 5, and Darcey, 2. As a visiting lecturer at the London College of Fashion, Meadows is one of many industry insiders tasked with offering insight into the business. The role has made him a regular visitor to Dubai as this May was his third year delivering the short courses Buying and Merchandising and Starting Your Own Label to UAE audiences. He is the author of the best-selling book How to Set up & Run a Fashion Label, and will return to Dubai this month offering short courses in fashion design. He tells Laura Collins about his life and passions.

London College of Fashion and Chelsea College of Art & Design are offering fashion and interior design courses, lasting from one to five days each, at The Pullman Hotel, Mall of the Emirates, from October 13-28. Visit www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/middle-east

TOBY'S WORLD

MY MOST DEFINING MOMENT WAS... was becoming a father. I'd been thinking about writing a book for a long time but didn't seriously get on with it until Mae was born. Looking back I think I wanted to create something for her. MY LIFE MOTTO IS... don't settle for mediocrity. Somebody has to be the next Anna Wintour or Alexander McQueen. Set your sights high and be prepared to work for it. MY CAREER HIGHLIGHT HAS BEEN... I suppose the book so far but the process was hard and initially I felt more relief than excitement it was done. MY PERSONAL STYLE IS... is shabby chic. I'm fairly lazy when it comes to grooming - hence the beard. MY GUILTY PLEASURE IS... Glee. Both my parents were dancers in the West End and many of my childhood memories are of meeting them at the stage door or or sitting in the lighting rigs watching Chorus Line or West Side Story. Glee taps into all that. I have many favourite designers including Yasmin Kianfar and Georgia Hardinge.