Irish hat designers makes a splash after royal wedding

THERE has been an explosion in demand among Irish woman for fascinators and hats after the royal wedding made headwear one of the hottest fashion trends of the year.

The world’s most famous milliner Philip Treacy has dressed the heads of Sarah Jessica Parker, Lady Gaga, the Duchess of Cambridge and Kate Moss.

Now with his Irish proteges churning out their own designs, demand has never been higher with females of all ages looking to turn heads.

The Irish online hat rental store, Secretchic, has been flooded with requests for exotic headwear since the nuptials of Kate Middleton and Prince William.

The director of Secretchic.ie, Sarah Carberry, said:

“Straight after they got married I started to get loads of queries to rent hats. All the Irish milliners I work with are literally out the door with orders for fascinators and hats.

“They can’t cope with all the orders and they are working around the clock.”

Galway milliner Philip Treacy was responsible for the headwear for a large number of guests at the royal wedding including Victoria Beckham, Zara Philips, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Princess Beatrice’s much-ridiculed headpiece.

The procession of extraordinary headdresses at Royal Ascot last week has only made the fashion trend even hotter as the racing season gets into full swing for this summer.

Up and coming milliner Edel Ramberg, who trained under Philip Treacy, said:

“This is the busiest time of year and last year I was up to ninety with no sleep but it’s started earlier this year due to the royal wedding.

“People are going for bigger and more adventurous styles since the royal wedding and they are also watching what Kate Middleton is wearing.

“I’m getting a lot of Hello magazines in with people looking for bigger hats and half hats like the one Zara Philips wore to the royal wedding.”

The Galway-based milliner said her mentor Philip Treacy opened the door for Irish designers in the fashion world after dressing the biggest celebrities on the planet.

“I studied in Limerick but I interned with Joanne Hynes and Regatta in the USA who own Vera Wang and Philip Treacy. People give Irish designers more credit when they see how well Philip is doing. Before Irish designers wouldn’t have been as recognised. People would have been going straight to Paris or London.”

Philip Treacy hats are stocked at outlets including Leona Boutique, Midleton, Cork; Kathleen McAuliffe, Dingle; Design Centre, Powerscourt, Dublin; Satina, Tramore, Waterford as well as Harrods in London.