Philip Treacy in a 2011 interview: "She made him famous. He made her look like an icon. When you think of the late, great Blow, you think of her in one of his creations, be it a giant disc or a replica sailing ship." In July 2002, the Design Museum in London, hosted an exhibition of the 30 most iconic hats Treacy designed for Blow, titled: "When Philip met Isabella". The exhibition was so well received that it went on a world tour for several years, and drew a record attendance of circa 43,000 when shown in Dublin in 2005. In 1991,
Philip Treacy Anthony Treacy was born on 26 May 1967 in the small village of Ahascragh, in County Galway in the Republic of Ireland, whose population was circa 500. Treacy says that his interest in sewing started at age five, and that his obsession with the weddings in the church across the road from his house, inspired an early passion for fashion. At age 17, Treacy moved to Dublin in 1985, to study fashion at the National College of Art and Design, where he spent a 6–week work experience with British millner, Stephen Jones. In 1988, Treacy won an MA scholarship for