Philip Treacy
Philip Treacy
Philip Treacy OBEis an Irish milliner and designer based in London...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionDesigner
Date of Birth26 May 1967
CountryIreland
architecture balancing designing wearing
There's a technicality to designing and wearing hats. A hat is balancing the proportions of your face; it's like architecture or mathematics.
along architecture corner evocative fact full history london love sculptures street tiny turn walk
In Rome, I particularly love the history, churches, sculptures and architecture and the fact that you can walk along a tiny cobbled street and turn the corner to find the Trevi Fountain. London is evocative of other eras and full of history.
bit people
When people come and visit me and have a hat made, it's a little bit like visiting a psychiatrist, but they don't actually realize that.
potent
When you meet someone, you meet their face. It's the most potent part of the body to embellish.
buying life moment sell shop ultimate women
Women come into our shop for that ultimate moment in their life. They're buying a dream. They're buying a moment for themselves. That's what I sell - moments.
grew
I grew up in a little village in the west of Ireland.
enduring grew local sand west year
I grew up in the west of Ireland, and Galway was our local seaside resort. We'd go for one day of the year during the summer, and I have enduring memories of the sand and the sea.
Somebody can feel elegant without being elegant. It's a personality.
change
My aim is to change people's perceptions of what a hat can look like in the 21st century.
intrigued preferred
The only person I never made a hat for was my mother because my mother didn't really - she preferred to make her own hats. I mean, she was intrigued by everything, but she didn't want one of my hats. She made her own.
allowed fabric fascinated feed joining needle sewing
My mother had a sewing machine. I was never allowed to use it, but I was so fascinated by this little needle going up and down joining fabric together that I'd use it when my mother went out to feed the chickens.
people
People are dressing like stars, which is kind of fantastic.
design hats imagining kept love majesty minds
What I love most about Her Majesty is that she has kept hats alive in people's minds for more than 60 years. You can't think of her without imagining her with a hat or a crown. I would, of course, love to design one for her.
Hats are really for ultimate occasions, so when I make one, I try to do something different, something noticeable.