Jeremy Hackett, 56, founded the eponymous gentlemen’s outfitters in 1983,

with a shop on New King’s Road in London selling vintage clothes and accessories.

Twenty-six years later, he is the chairman of the global Hackett empire.

He lives in Stockwell, London, with his two sussex spaniels,

Charley, 16, and Browney, seven.

Daily routine I usually get up at 6.30am, make a cup of tea and walk the dogs in the park.

I then go through all my emails around 8.30. I have a column on the Hackett website called

Ask Jeremy where people ask me style-related questions such as

‘Can I wear brown shoes with a grey suit?’ and ‘I’m getting married tomorrow, what do I wear?’

I then go to the office or to our shop in Sloane Street, where I attend product meetings.

Then there’s always lunch with journalists and people in the business.

After work I head home to walk the dogs again.

Getting dressed I used to iron my own shirts but when I gave up smoking years ago

I made a deal with myself: the money I saved on not buying cigarettes

could go towards getting my shirts laundered. (The only way I could benefit from

giving up was to have something really positive come out of it. I haven’t smoked

cigarettes since but I do smoke cigars now – Hoyo de Monterrey No.2,

which I buy from Davidoff on the corner of Jermyn Street.)

I always wear a jacket or a suit because they provide structure to my terrible shape.

If I wear a sweater or just a shirt, I feel sloppy.

I would never wear a T-shirt in London because I would look dreadful and I’m 56.

Tweed I have accumulated lots of tweed jackets over the years.

I really like the Horse and Hound tweed that we did with the magazine.

My current favourite is the Tokyo tweed in grey, navy and cornflower blue

(main picture). I was in Tokyo a few months ago with work and we took some

lightweight cloths and just a few very heavy English tweeds for the window-dressing,

not thinking they’d want them. Nearly every person ordered in the heavy tweed saying,

‘Very English, very nice.’ I’ve covered my furniture in tweed because you can brush it

and the dirt comes off, which is good for the dogs.

On the wall My favourite painting (above) was done in the 1920’s by

Edward Wolfe, one of the Bloomsbury Group. I bought it nine years ago

fromm the Millinery Works in Islington, which had a special exhibition of his work.

Most of the art in my house is from the 1930’s and 50s or from Russia.

I also have a Tracey Emin.

Collections I tend to accumulate elephants (main picture and above)

from all over the world, as well as cufflinks (below).

My favourites are the Charley and Browney ones, that we now make at Hackett.

I’ve bought lots of vintage pairs from the 1940s and 50s in flea markets

around the world. Nicky Haslam says that cufflinks are common.

I don’t listen to him. He say’s everything is common.

I think it’s common to say everything is common.

Bronze lady There was a famous dandy in the 1950s called Bunny Rodgers,

who was incredibly eccentric, dressed top to toe in Saville Row.

When he died they had a big sale at Sotheby’s of his clothes and effects,

and I went along to have a look. I thought this bronze sculpture (above)

was interesting so I circled it in the catalogue then completely

forgot about the sale. Two months later I was walking down Fulham Road

and there it was in the window of an antiques shop and I thought,

‘Well, I’m meant to have it.’

Gadgets I’m not really a gadget person but I do love my M8 Leica camera (above).

It’s a proper camera. It’s digital, and I’m not a whiz at all but I can download

my photos on to my computer. I took a really great picture of my two dogs

eating with their heads in their bowls and ears flopping out. I made it into postcard

whichI sent to people to thank them for lunch or dinner.

Style hero I think David Hockney has a great look (above). He’s always quite shambolic,

but his outfits have obviously been thought about and it never looks contrived.

He mixes things up nicely and adds a bit of colour here and there, funny braces or odd socks.

It’s part of his persona, which is why it looks so good.

Horses When I lived on the Wilton Estate in Wiltshire I kept a horse called Cassie in their stables.

I was allowed to ride in the parkland and I’d get up early at the weekend

and go down to the stables and hack out into the park. It was magic.

I felt I was in one of those 18^th-century paintings (below).

I stopped riding because I broke my leg quite badly and lost my confidence.

Words taken from interview by Sophie Robinson The Telegraph magazine 5th December 2009.