Philip Treacy
Philip Treacy
Philip Treacy OBEis an Irish milliner and designer based in London...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionDesigner
Date of Birth26 May 1967
CountryIreland
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.
bringing develop either fruition gives laborious love people tactile
Hat-making is laborious and time-consuming. It's a very tactile medium, and you can develop the skills, but it's one of those things: you either have it, or you don't. I love bringing something to fruition with my hands that gives people pleasure.
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.
although believes enthusiasm gaga hat housewife lady love people romance wants
I love the romance of what I do, although because of Isabella, Lady Gaga and Grace Jones, people think I have crazy customers. Sometimes I get more enthusiasm from the housewife who wants a hat and believes in it.
less
I used to make clothes for my sister's dolls. I couldn't care less for the dolls, but I could make the clothes really easily.
expressive plus simpler
So my advice is to always choose something simpler - an expressive outfit, plus a hat, can be frightening.
shows
You always see a better side of where you're visiting when a local shows you around.
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.
buy
People, when they buy a hat, they can't explain why they want to buy it or why they want it, but they do. It's like chocolate.
best error trial until
Try on 100 different hats if you can, until you find the one that suits you best. It's a trial and error thing.
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.
classic elizabeth epitome excess forties image major taylor ultimate worked
The classic hat image was during the Forties and Fifties, and Elizabeth Taylor was the epitome of that; she was the ultimate celebrity of excess and glamour, and she worked major sun hats.
came conformist people
Not long ago, a hat was a conformist accessory. Then the 1960s came along, and young people didn't want to wear hats.
best fact less people
I empathise with the fact that people want to look their best. A hat is all about how it makes you feel - it's so much better than a nip and tuck, and a lot less painful.