39 Facts About Philip Treacy

Philip Anthony Treacy was born on 26 May 1967 and is an Irish haute couture milliner, or hat designer, who has been mostly based in London for his career, and who was described by Vogue magazine as "perhaps the greatest living milliner".

In 2000, Treacy became the first milliner in eighty years to be invited to exhibit at the Paris haute couture fashion shows.

Philip Treacy has won British Accessory Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards five times, and has received public honours in both Britain and Ireland.

Philip Treacy's designs have been displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 1989, Philip Treacy was discovered and then mentored by fashion editor Isabella Blow, whom Philip Treacy described as the "biggest inspiration" on his life.

Philip Treacy is associated with celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Philip Treacy has been associated with British royalty and has designed hats for royal occasions, including the fascinator worn by Princess Beatrice in 2011.

In 2024, Philip Treacy was granted a royal warrant by Queen Camilla.

Philip Anthony Treacy was born on 26 May 1967 in the small village of Ahascragh, near Ballinasloe, in County Galway in the Republic of Ireland, whose population was circa 500.

Philip Treacy says that his interest in sewing started at age five, and that his obsession with the weddings in the Catholic church across the road from his house inspired an early passion for fashion.

In 1985, at age 17, Philip Treacy moved to Dublin to study fashion at the National College of Art and Design, where he spent a six-week work experience with British milliner Stephen Jones, and graduated in 1987.

In 1988, Philip Treacy won an MA scholarship for the Fashion Design course at the Royal College of Art in London, and graduated in 1990 with first class honours.

Blow asked Philip Treacy to make a hat for her wedding, and soon after in 1990, invited him to live with her and her new husband Detmar Blow, in their Belgravia home in London, where Philip Treacy worked in their basement.

In 1991, aged 23, Philip Treacy got his "big break" when asked by Karl Lagerfeld to come to the Chanel showrooms in Paris for what was to be the start of a long-term working relationship; the meeting was held on the prompting of Blow.

Philip Treacy just walked into the house of Chanel and said: "We'd like some tea please".

In 1991, Philip Treacy opened his first showroom in London, and won the first of five British Accessory Designer of the Year awards.

Two years later, Philip Treacy held his first fashion show during London Fashion Week in Harvey Nichols, with Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon, Kate Moss, Christy Turlington and Stella Tennant modelling in return for keeping Philip Treacy's hats, all of which were black.

Philip Treacy has designed hats for Alexander McQueen, including his 1999 white collection for Givenchy in Paris, for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, and for Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Versace and Rifat Ozbek.

Philip Treacy has designed hats for films, including the Harry Potter film series, and most notably the Beauxbatons hat for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005.

Philip Treacy designed Madonna's gold headpiece for her 2012 Super Bowl XLVI halftime show.

Philip Treacy had previously written a piece for The Guardian in May 2001 on what defines the "perfect hat".

Philip Treacy's hats are associated with English royalty, with thirty-seven worn at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, including the controversial fascinator-style hat worn by Princess Beatrice of York.

Philip Treacy felt the criticism regarding the "pretzel hat" was extreme, and in July 2011 said: "In the future, we'll look back and think she looked wild".

Philip Treacy designed over twenty hats that were worn at the 19 May 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, including by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and by Oprah Winfrey.

In July 2018, Philip Treacy credited the patronage of Elizabeth II with "single-handedly saving the British hat industry".

In 2023, Philip Treacy created the caps of maintenance for the three crowns used in the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla.

Philip Treacy won the title of British Accessory Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards five times during the 1990s.

In January 2000, Philip Treacy was invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to participate in Paris fashion shows, the first milliner to be invited in 80 years.

In November 2004, Philip Treacy was named the International Designer of the Year, at the China Fashion Awards in Shanghai.

Philip Treacy's hats have been exhibited, and are housed in the collections of design museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Galleria del Costume of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

Philip Treacy has been recognized outside of the world of fashion.

Philip Treacy was awarded an honorary OBE for services to the British fashion industry by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall at a special ceremony in Clarence House in November 2007.

Philip Treacy designed the headdress worn by the Duchess of Cornwall for the couple's wedding.

In July 2010, Philip Treacy was one of six contemporary and internationally renowned Irish fashion designers honoured by a set of Irish postage stamps issued by An Post.

Philip Treacy is gay and in May 2017 he married his long-term partner of over 21 years, Stefan Bartlett, in a ceremony in Las Vegas.

Philip Treacy is the second youngest of a large family and has one sister, and seven brothers.

Philip Treacy is particularly close to his sister, Marion Tubbing, the eldest sibling, whom he credits with supplying him with editions of Harper's and Queen and Vogue while living in Galway, and to whom, along with his partner Bartlett, Treacy dedicated his 2015 biography: Philip Treacy: Hat Designer.

Philip Treacy has noted the support his parents gave him in pursuing his love of millinery, noting that his father would say: "whatever makes him happy".

Philip Treacy has highlighted the importance of fashion model Grace Jones as a friend.