About Me
I always think it is important to know the person behind the product and to introduce myself ,I am Michelle of Michelle Treacy Millinery, an award winning hat and headpiece maker based in Kilkenny, Ireland.
By way of background, I have always been interested in fashion and in particular sewing. I suppose my interest in fashion stemmed from my mother Sheila and her trusty Singer sewing machine at the kitchen table over the years. Many a pair of jeans were made into flares by me in my retro 90’s phase..thankfully there was no internet then so there is no evidence of these crimes of fashion !
I also worked for years in Brown Thomas where my love of fashion and retail was further fostered. While I qualified and worked as a solicitor in my day to day life, I always kept up my interest in fashion and style. It was during a period of redundancy during the downturn in the 00’s that I found myself with time on my hands and I decided to put it to good use and to do some courses I have always had an interest in. I went to Lina Stein in Westport for a week long Millinery Course and found myself well and truly hooked.
I formally established Michelle Treacy Millinery in April 2018 and have been incredibly lucky with the business since. Some of the highlights are below:
- Stocked in Lady Lorna’s Designer Emporium, Kilkenny and Jennifer’s Hat Emporium, Kildare
- My hat winning Best Dressed at the Scottish Grand National 2018
- Sponsor of a Bespoke hat for the Winning 2018 Rose of Tralee, Kirsten Mate Maher
- Having my hats featured in Irish County Magazine, The Kilkenny People, the Herald, The Irish Times and the Irish Independent
- My hats being selected as Best Dressed Finalist at the Gowran Races, Galway Races and Clonmel Races on various occasions, among others.
- Accepted to the Design and Craft Council of Ireland
- Dressing noted Virgin TV Stylist Marietta Doran for the Tramore Races
- Regional Winner of Network Ireland Business Woman of the Year in Arts Section 2019
- Finalist in the All Ireland Network Ireland Business Woman of the Year in Arts 2019 and Highly Commended in the Solo Business Woman Category in 2020
- Finalist in Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce Craft Producer of the Year 2019
- Successful in obtaining the Online Trading Voucher from the Local Enterprise Board Kilkenny
- Finalist in the Best Dressed at the Galway Races 2019
- Collaborator with Brain Tumour Ireland for their “Wear a Hat Day 2020” launching shortly
All my hats and headpieces are made using traditional methods and are finished to the highest standards. I believe the inside of a hat should look as good as the visible part and I take particular interest in lining my hats to a very high standard. This gives you that something extra and keeps the beauty of a bespoke hat flowing through the whole hat and makes wearing a Michelle Treacy hat a very special experience”.
