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Milliner-to-the-stars Philip Treacy is a man on a mission.
The designer, who is arguably one of the most significant fashion personalities to visit New Zealand, is in town for three days to meet with the local design community and to give a public lecture at the Auckland Museum tonight.
And this world-famous hat maker's mission? To encourage more people to believe in the glamour of hats and, by default, in good design.
"That's why I am here in New Zealand," Treacy says, "to explain to people you can have a good time in a hat.
"People always say, 'oh, is it dying out? Who's wearing hats anyway?' But hats have always been around since the beginning of time and they're not going to go away.
"I even get a lot of interest from cultures where they don't wear hats. I get women from these Arab cultures who are interested in hats and I often wonder why.
"I think it's because women are attracted to glamour and hats are the epitome of glamour. It's the ultimate dress-up. When you meet somebody you're not looking at their ankle or their wrist. You're looking at their head."
There's no doubt that a lot of the general public would have been drawn to look at the head of Treacy's muse, British fashion personality and stylist, Isabella Blow, who died recently. Some of his most outrageous hats were made specifically for Blow - they included a realistic model of an 18th-century ship, complete with rigging, a castle based on Blow's ancestral castle and the Pope's hat - and these will be on display at the Dowse Museum in Wellington from this Saturday until next February.
Treacy's slightly less outrageous hats have also graced the heads of international celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Naomi Campbell and Liz Hurley.
He has been named British accessories designer of the year for several years running and he has previously collaborated with labels such as Karl Lagerfeld and Givenchy. One of Treacy's personal highlights came in 2005 when he was asked to design the hats for Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla Parker-Bowles.
"That was an otherworldly moment," admits Treacy, who came to New Zealand straight after putting on a show at Paris Fashion Week with designer Alexander McQueen last week. "I come from a rural Irish village in the west of Ireland.
"I grew up seeing all of that world of glamour as so unattainable. So when I did make Camilla's hat for her wedding, it was fun to be sitting there in Windsor, seeing the Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales's wife come round the corner wearing something I had made. That was kind of fun."
Tonight in the 200-seater Auckland Museum auditorium, Treacy will be sharing further stories of his career as well as showing filmed footage of some of his shows.
Tickets cost $55 or $75 and will be available on the door at the museum.
