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"    Photo: Courtesy of Philip Treacy   There aren&amp;#039;t many designers with a client base that includes both Lady Gaga and the royal family, but, then again, Philip Treacy has long established that he&amp;#039;s in a league of his own. Fresh off a Spring 2013 runway presentation\u2014his first in more than a decade, which featured a catwalk turn by Gaga, plus models wearing Michael Jackson&amp;#039;s old costumes\u2014the master milliner is keeping busy with a series of new collaborations. In between creating one-of-a-kind toppers for the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker and Victoria Beckham, Treacy has been designing a limited-edition engagement ring collection for Voltaire Diamonds, and will join Asprey in launching luxury Christmas crackers (priced at roughly $2,400), one of which includes a voucher for a bespoke hat courtesy of you-know-who.      In the meantime, ELLE.com was able to pin down the London-based designer to answer these ten questions. 1. What is your favorite smell? &amp;quot;My garden in the countryside.&amp;quot; 2. What do you consider to be the epitome of happiness? &amp;quot;Hats!&amp;quot; 3. How do you define luxury? &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ll give you four words: Modern, elegant, sophisticated, and dynamic.&amp;quot; 4. What is the last dream you remember? &amp;quot;The show is about to begin and I forgot to make the hats.&amp;quot; 5. What&amp;#039;s your favorite childhood memory? &amp;quot;My mother had chickens, geese, pheasants, and ducks, so all the ingredients of the hat were in my house. My mother had a sewing machine. I was never allowed to use it, but I was so fascinated by this little needle going up and down joining fabric together that I&amp;#039;d use it when my mother went out to feed the chickens. There was like five minutes to get it out. If my mother found me I would be in a lot of trouble. I used to make clothes for my sister&amp;#039;s dolls. I couldn&amp;#039;t care less for the dolls but I could make the clothes really easily.&amp;quot; 6. What&amp;#039;s the last book you read and loved? &amp;quot;The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by J. Randy Taraborrelli.&amp;quot; 7. Describe your home&amp;#039;s aesthetic. &amp;quot;Eclectic!&amp;quot; 8. What are your vices? &amp;quot;Smoking.&amp;quot; 9. Describe yourself in five words or less. &amp;quot;Aesthete, innovative, perfectionist.&amp;quot; 10. What possession will you never throw away? &amp;quot;It is a 17th century Dalian or Sailing ship hat. I&amp;#039;d seen old renderings of ships in women&amp;#039;s hair. It was a costume designer&amp;#039;s dream. The idea for this hat was inspired and created from a chapter in Olivier Bernier&amp;#039;s book&amp;#039; Pleasure and Privilege, called &amp;#039;Rule of Fashion about Life in France in the 1750s.&amp;#039; The chapter described a British fleet admiral, D&amp;#039;Estaing, losing a famous battle to the French fleet. In celebration, women in Paris wore ships in their hair to go to the opera; I loved the emotion attached to this. It&amp;#039;s made from satin and the bone of the feather. The sails are paradise feathers. The rigging is made from the feather bones, which is what you strip away from the feather and that which remains.&amp;quot;   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a22376/philip-treacy-interview/?click=main_sr>