Feature Photo by Huda Awan
Opening the show at Philip Treacy’s 2013 runway presentation, Lady Gaga introduced the Irish hat designer as “the greatest milliner in the world”. This is something that Treacy seems to be slightly embarrassed about as both himself and the audience in the GMB watch a recording of the show: “I didn’t get her to say this. This was of her own accord”. Whether he would like to admit it or not, Philip Treacy is the most influential milliner in the world and a real force in the world of fashion, having collaborated with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino and the late Alexander McQueen for the duration of his career. He is also The Phil’s latest selection for their Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage, awarded to individuals who make an outstanding contribution to their field.
At the ceremony, Treacy spoke at length about his relationship to McQueen. “He was different because his talent transcended,” he recalls. “Today everyone is a designer […] But what’s very difficult in fashion is to be original.” He went on to say that: “Original people are the people that stand out […] When I was a student I thought fashion was clothing, it’s not clothing; fashion is something indescribable.” A huge part of McQueen’s work, and his collaboration with Treacy, was the fantastical narrative that was created through the runway presentation. When asked whether Treacy thinks the art of the runway is something that could be revived in the digital age, he replies: “Well, I hope so. I’ve noticed in the past few years there’s a trend for massive, extraordinary presentations but the clothes are just okay but the presentation is amazing because they spend ten million dollars building some extraordinary thing in the middle. Then the models come and they’re wearing knitwear.”
According to Treacy, what was different was that “the presentation was everything for [McQueen]. That fifteen minutes every six months, he lived for that, because that’s the moment, that’s what he’s saying […] That type of self expression is difficult to come by because you need the incredible clothing to back it up”. He pinpoints McQueen and Lagerfield as the only two designers he knew who “design everything”. Today there are “20 assistants designing the clothes” at every other fashion house, clearly gesturing to the new model of design the industry has generated in the wake of accelerated sales tactics. “At Alexander McQueen he cut the clothes […] Every season there was a different take on what clothing can look like. So he believed in newness […] There’s fashion weeks all over the world at the moment, and it’s all good but it seems like there’s A LOT of clothes and A LOT of fashion and some of it is just clothes, but we need clothes.”
I am the brand. I’ve been doing it for twenty-five years so I’ve got a style and I’ve got an approach. I sell dreams to people.
What Treacy and McQueen share is an irreverence toward the the trend-generating commercial world that ostensibly keeps fashion moving. “See, I didn’t know anything about business when I started and I still don’t […] Students are very concerned about marketing and all those different aspects but really most importantly you need something to market.” Treacy points to the now famous hat that he created for his mentor Isabella Blow, which was inspired by an illustration of a woman with a ship emerging from her hair created during Marie Antoinette’s reign. “[Isabella] said ‘everyone is going to want one’ and I thought nobody is going to want a ship. So she was right. I could have sold hundreds of ships […] Commercial isn’t just t-shirts. I have a fun time making uncommercial things commercial.” You get the sense from hearing Treacy speak that he connects his success to a clear and uncompromising point of view. “I am the brand […] I’ve been doing it for twenty-five years so I’ve got a style and I’ve got an approach.” For Treacy it’s all about escapism: “I sell dreams to people.”
Fantasy is something that drives Treacy’s work and his almost Warholian love for pop culture acts as a constant source of inspiration for him: “I like to be inspired by popular culture; the 21st century rather than the 16th century”. For his 2013 collection, Treacy paired his hats with the clothes of Michael Jackson, which he loaned from a friend in Los Angeles who does celebrity auctions. “It was so moving to see these iconic moments […] it was like pop history […] We grew up on Top of the Pops. Before there was social media or before there was internet; 7:30pm on a thursday night you were transported to another world.” He recalls some of the models crying after getting off the runway because they got the chance to wear pieces like Jackson’s thriller jacket: “Little things like that are really what inspiration is about, it’s what makes you tick.” The power of the entertainer is something that fascinates Treacy, whose otherworldly designs have attracted the attention of equally outlandish performers such as Lady Gaga and Grace Jones. “The meaning of celebrity is celebrated. These people have something special and that’s why they are who they are.”
What attracts Philip to performers like Gaga may also be their lack of seriousness. When asked if the casting of exclusively black models for his 2013 show was a conscious move he simply cites a meeting with model Grace Bol as the sole inspiration for the casting decision. “Fashion is quite a light-hearted industry. It comes across as something very serious and heavy but there’s nothing really serious or heavy about clothing, it’s just self-expression”. Instead he focuses on models in a different light. “Models are the unsung heroes of the fashion industry […] They are entertainers, they are performers.” He argues how the seemingly glamorous life of a model is actually quite lonely, moving between hotel rooms all over the world to make beautiful images for us to appreciate. “Really of itself, it is a performance.”
This is not to say that provocation must not take on a political role. Rather, it should never come at the expense of visual entertainment for Treacy. “An idea is an idea and hats have always been provocative. Hats are provocateurs and they always have been since the beginning of time.” He quickly reminds us: “I’m not trying to provoke by the way. It just happens,” laughing off his own comment. “Alexander [McQueen] loved to provoke, he got a kick out of that.” Suddenly his tone lifts: “What’s wrong with that? That’s part of your job and what you do here [at Trinity College]. You’re not here for complacency, you want to change things?”
As the discussion is ending, Treacy goes into great detail about a hat he saw in the Hermitage Museum while visiting Russia for an exhibition on his work. The simple grey bowler was worn by Nicholas Romanov on a state visit to Japan but had a big slice taken out of it when one of the emperor’s guards stuck him on the head with his sword. “The hats are still there but the people are gone,” he remarks. This anecdote speaks to the enduring nature of Philip Treacy’s work. His hats always speak their own spectacular narrative and exist outside of their capacity as mere clothing. Most importantly, however, his work is never disposable as so much fashion is today and that is a provocation in itself.
