Fact: Philip Treacy is one of fashion's high rollers. Isabella Blow was his muse, his creations have adorned the runways of Chanel, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, and Valentino, and have perched atop the heads of everyone from SJP to Lady Gaga. So far, so awesome.
But as it turns out, despite the fact that this crown prince of millinery has the fashion world at his feet, he just can't stand it when everyone takes the industry too seriously and lets it become "over-intellectualised".
"Fashion is about the pursuit of beauty and elegance, I feel. But to other people it’s a T-shirt,” the designer says in an interview with Another Magazine .
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And don't even think about getting political on him: "Saying that fashion is political is like saying: You can be a scientist if you wear a lab-coat. It doesn’t make you that person but, in your own imagination, you can be whoever you want to be."
While he argues that fashion is about escape from reality, it's England's eccentric sense of style that keeps the Irish designer grounded: "There is a fearlessness that’s attached to Englishness, and it’s unquantifiable. English have an inbuilt understanding of the peculiarities of life."
Er, thanks, we'll take that as a compliment. (Another Magazine)