Philip Treacy the Fashion Design course at the Royal College of Art in London, and graduated in 1990 with first class honours. In 1989 he took one of his hats to Michael Roberts, fashion editor of "Tatler" magazine, and his style editor, Isabella Blow. Blow asked Treacy to make a hat for her to wear for her wedding, and soon after, invited him in 1990, to live with her and her new husband Detmar Blow, in their Belgravia London home, where Treacy worked in their basement. Alexander McQueen, another Blow discovery, would also join Treacy in her home. "The Telegraph" would chronicle
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". Treacy called his friendship with his significant mentor, Isabella Blow, as: "an affair without sex". Treacy also highlights the importance of fashion model Grace Jones as a collaborator and friend. Treacy is the second youngest of a large family and has eight other siblings, including one sister, the oldest sibling, and seven other brothers. He is particularly close to his sister, Marion Tubbing, who he credits with supplying him with editions of "Harper's and Queen" and