Philip Treacy
Extraordinary world-leading hat designer
Philip Treacy is one of the most extraordinary hat designers of our time. Originally from County Galway in Ireland, his handmade creations are a feat of craftsmanship, displaying an imagination where seemingly impossible dreams are realised through his designs.
Treacy was awarded an honorary OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to the British fashion industry by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at a ceremony in Clarence House, 19th November 2007. He has been awarded the title of British Accessory Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards on five occasions during the early 1990s.
In 1990 Treacy graduated from the Royal College of Art with first class honours and set up a workshop in the basement of the late Isabella Blow's house on Elizabeth Street, Belgravia. Isabella, Tatlers's style editor at the time, helped Treacy launch himself as a well known milliner and wore many of his hats.
He has designed hats for Alexander McQueen's white Haute Couture collection at Givenchy in Paris, for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, and for Valentino, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan.
He has designed hats worn by Lady Gaga. The most notable of his designs was a telephone-shaped headpiece with removable handset, worn on her appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in 2010. He has also designed hats for various films including the 'Harry Potter' films, Sarah Jessica Parker's hat for the film première of 'Sex and the City'. 36 of Treacy's hats were worn at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29th April 2011, including the fascinator worn by Princess Beatrice of York.
Philip Treacy has become the world's most in demand hat designer. Widely credited for changing the perception of the hat, he designs hats to flatter and enhance the wearer. His fantastical creations are handcrafted in his London studio. Treacy himself sculpts and carves by hand the wooden moulds for each individual hat.
“I have had the greatest pleasure of having the opportunity to challenge people's perception of what a hat should look like in the 21st century. I make hats because I love hats. It's an enigmatic object that serves the human purpose only of beautification and embellishment, and making one feel good, whether you’re the observer of the spectacle or the wearer”
— Philip Treacy
