Philip Treacy

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2018

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Philip Treacy is one of the most prolific and acclaimed hat designers working in the UK. His work was very much in evidence at this year's Royal Wedding and at Royal Ascot. Meghan Markle wore one of his designs for her first official public engagement as the Duchess of Sussex. Other notable clients include Madonna, Tina Turner, Grace Jones, who has showcased his creations on and off stage, and Lady Gaga, for whom he made a black telephone hat. Originally from Ahascragh, a small village in County Galway, Ireland, Philip learned to sew when he was six years old. He grew up opposite a church and he recalls how, as a young boy, he would go to all the weddings, uninvited, to look at the clothes and in particular the wedding dresses. He went on to study fashion at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, and then won a place on the MA fashion design course at the Royal College of Art in London, graduating in 1990 with first class honours. He enjoyed a meteoric rise to success when fashion stylist Isabella Blow saw his student hat collection. She introduced him to Karl Lagerfeld, who quickly invited him to design hats for Chanel Couture when he was still in his early twenties. He has won the title of British Accessory Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards on five occasions, and was awarded an honorary OBE for services to the British fashion industry in 2007. Presenter Kirsty Young Producer Sarah Taylor.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the BBC.
0:03.2	Hi, I'm Kristi Young. Welcome to Desert Island Discs,
0:06.8	where every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury
0:11.3	that they'd want with them when I cast them away.
0:13.6	This is an extended edition of the original broadcast,
0:16.9	although the music is shorter for right reasons.
0:19.7	I hope you enjoy the podcast.
0:30.0	My cast away today is the hat designer, Philip Tracy, a maverick creative force.
0:47.8	His trailblazing style has marked a paradigm shift in a hitherto highly conservative genre.
0:53.7	Not for him, the charms of the dainty, past or feathered fascinator,
0:57.8	no, his hats are constructions of such spectacular drama,
1:01.8	ingenuity and engineering that he's turned millenary on its head.
1:07.1	From Lady Gaga to the Land of Gentry, he is the go-to guy for someone wanting to make a statement
1:13.4	on a concert stage, a catwalk, or simply sashing into the chapel at a society wedding.
1:19.4	Indeed, it was as a little fella growing up in rural Galway that he would stand
1:23.3	week in, week out at the doors of the local church, entranced by the get-ups of the wedding
1:28.8	guests and the beauty of the bride. He says of his world-renowned designs,
1:33.6	I think and I hope I have changed the way we look at hats.
1:37.4	They are no longer symbols of conformity, but highly individual acts of rebellion.
1:42.7	I am constantly challenging the perception of what a hat should be and what role it should play.
1:49.1	So we're recording this, then, a little bit, the height of, well, I would think it's the height of hat
1:52.3	season. We've got lots of summer weddings, royal askets just finished.
	...

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