Philip Treacy is back! The large-scale show by the world’s greatest milliner is the gift to St. Petersburg that Erarta Museum has in store for its own 10th anniversary.

The hats created by this celebrated designer and the only recognized haute couture milliner in the world grace the heads of royalties, including the British ruling dynasty, and countless celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and many others. Treacy designed his own collections for such fashion greats as Chanel, Givenchy and Umbro.

His formula for success is simple: boundless imagination and bold ideas. A swan, a horse head, a lobster, a telephone, a hand, an ashtray — Philip Treacy can be inspired by any of these, and many other things!

The designer constantly experiments with palettes and shapes across an ever-expanding range of materials: feathers, artificial and natural plants, plastic, metal, fur, textiles, and even electrical devices.

In 2015, Erarta Museum already staged a Treacy retrospective spanning the master’s quarter-century artistic career. The show was an instant hit, becoming the most-visited exhibition of its time and drawing an incredible number of positive reviews. This admiration was requited: Philip Treacy loved both St. Petersburg and the museum, so the decision to stage an exhibition of his quirky hats as a gift to the city for Erarta’s 10th anniversary came quite naturally.

Along with popular favourites from the Hats in the 21st Century, the show will feature Treacy’s creations previously unseen in Russia and his new fashion designs.

Philip Treacy in his own words:

On each hat I spend as much time as it requires to become extraordinary.

People coming to my studio often ask: ‘But where are the sewing machines?’, and I always answer: ‘Here are my hands, that’s everything I need.’

In the morning I feel dressed only after putting on my finger thimble.

I love when hats make your heart beat faster and make you feel like a million dollars.