There’s something of the Alfred Hitchcock set to Philip Treacy’s studio in south London: a giant greenhouse-like wall of window, overlooking a train track. Grace Kelly would fit in here, kissing James Stewart. But this is also a place where, in another life, Stewart might have discovered that his students had become psycho menaces in Rope. In other words, creative character is part of the atmosphere here. Lining the shelves are endless moulds for his hats. “I make them out of material and then a man carves them for me in wood — usually in Paris,” Treacy says. “So all of these shapes are different hats for Isabella Blow [former fashion director of The Sunday Times], Mugler, McQueen...”
For his latest trick, the maestro milliner has turned his attention to make-up, in a collaboration with Mac. “I’ve worked with Mac for a long time, from the beginning of my shows. They’ve always been generous to young London designers with no money.”
So Treacy and Mac put their creative heads together and came up with what you see here. When it came to the products — the eye creams, the highlighter (sculpted in a way that is “reminiscent of the Chrysler Building”), the gel liner and the lipsticks — Treacy was guided by Mac, “because that’s what they do”. The colours were a different story. “We had many meetings about what the colours could be or why certain ones work. Make-up colours look different depending on a person’s skin tone. I did push for the blue and the dark-pinky ones. I love those.”
The one thing he definitely wanted from this range was shades with some oomph to them. “We live in a world of colour, so I’m not really interested in a nude lipstick — nothing natural. The natural look is not really my scene, though I can appreciate it. But I like drawing and painting, and colours for me are the tools for amplifying your face.”
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Hats and cosmetics have a lot in common, Treacy feels. “A hat alters the proportions of the face, so it is not just something you put anywhere on your head, it’s very particularly placed. And the right hat makes the wearer look better. Make-up works in the same way.”
It turns out Treacy has a lot of opinions when it comes to make-up. He isn’t militant about it — he’s far too easy-going for that — but he knows what he likes. “I think people come alive when they have make-up on. And women have an advantage over men: a man in make-up is really tragic, but women are lucky that they can put on a lipstick and suddenly they look good.”
Lipstick is something that particularly interests him, and the shades in this range are “kind of Isabella, really”, he says, referring to his late friend, the stylist Blow. “Lipstick was her thing. When anybody met her, they’d try to tell her that her lipstick was crooked, it was on her teeth, and I’d say, ‘Don’t bother, that’s just how it is.’
“I became aware of make-up when I was a child. My mum, when she’d go shopping, loved wearing lipstick. I remember her putting it on one day and my brother said, ‘Where are you going with your mouth?’ What he meant was, ‘Where are you going with your lipstick on?’ For me, make-up is making an effort with yourself — you’re presenting yourself. It’s not like you can’t be bothered.
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“It’s like that Karl Lagerfeld quote about sweatpants — when you buy them, it means you’ve lost control of your life. How funny is that? Have you met him? I think he is hilarious — very nice and very sharp. He does not disappoint.”
He hasn’t met Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette, but seems to be on good terms with Lady Gaga’s dog, Asia. “She takes it on planes and it’s gorgeous. We’re developing a hat line for it. We were in her dressing room and I met the dog and said, ‘Why aren’t you wearing any hats?’ and Gaga said, ‘You haven’t made me any.’ ” So they’re in the process of rectifying that oversight.
“Have you encountered Gaga?” he asks. “She’s wonderful, a sincere person. She has the lifestyle to have hair and make-up changes all day long and she enjoys it. It’s not a hassle for her, weirdly enough.”
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Which brings us to his last big make-up opinion. “I think people should invest in make-up lessons, especially young girls. It’s amazing to see how it can transform women. But you can look 10 to 20 years older with too much,” he cautions.
When all the press for this collection is out of the way, he’ll be back to his day job, which he loves as much as ever. “It’s always about the next thing you’re doing — an exhibition, couture, the shows — and those kinds of things keep you going, really.
“You’re never totally happy with what you’ve made: you always think you’re going to nail it next time, but you never do. That desire, and seeing how people influence hats in the 21st century, is exciting. I’ve got a job in a trillion.”
The Philip Treacy for Mac collection will be available from April