Margaret O’Connor carries hats inside her head. If she passes a bakery she’ll see hats in the pâtisseries and cupcakes, on a walk through the park hats flutter around her in the form of trees, leaves and flower heads. There are hats on birds in the sky, on old railway bridges and on a jagged city skyline.

“I am a conceptual artist who’s currently working in the medium of millinery,” she says.”Coming from an art background, the conceptual aspect gets lodged back in your brain without your control. For me, it’s all about transforming ordinary things into art.”

Margaret, 3o, inhabits a creative world of silk, straw and feathers in a secret corner of the Burren, Co Claire. In her studio she creates designer hats for customers as well as outlandish pieces for shoots and catwalk shows. These use materials as diverse as leather, felt, silk, horsehair, plastics, wood, paper and unusual fabrics.

“I normally use vintage materials that are over 200 years old on very special, powerful and important head-pieces,” she says.”Having a few ranges of hats stimulates my brain and I need that. As an artist I feel we tend to get bored if we stand still for too long, so being busy at the studio is good. The more projects the better.”

Frank Sinatra once remarked that hats were best worn at an angle. “Angles,” he declared, “are attitudes.” If that’s the case, Margaret has attitude aplenty. In her colourful workroom are hats cocked at every angle; large and small, covered with velvets, blushers and jewelled pins, extravagant creations perched on mannequins and large wooden hat blocks.

She herself cuts a striking figure with her platinum blonde hair Marilyn-esque red lipstick but her most audacious fantasies are channelled entirely through extraordinary headpieces, “I think my designs are eclectic. I feel my style is very eclectic too. Living in the Edinburgh and London for over 8 years has had its input in my style choices. I’m partial to rocking out a fur coat down in the farm in County Clare. I feel fashion is for yourself; wear what you want when you want,” she says.

Her passion for millinery began when she went to study textiles at Ireland’s renowned Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. Demonstrating a unique flair and talent for her craft, Margaret moved to the UK to develop her skills among the cream of talent in the millinery and design industry. As well as continuing on her millinery studies at the prestigious Kensington and Chelsea College, Margaret honed her craft through internships with acclaimed milliners including Noel Stewart and Philip Treacy.

Her big break happened in 2013 when Lady Gaga’s PR became so enamoured with one of her collections – after seeing it by chance in a magazine – that she sent Gaga’s personal stylist, Nicola Formichetti, some photos of the collection. She heard back almost immediately that the singer wanted seven of them.”It was an amazing opportunity for me as I was trying to launch myself as a label. It’s was a huge endorsement,” she says, cupping her fingers around a warm cup of tea.

Since returning to Ireland from the UK in 2015, Margaret’s career has skyrocketed and she has quickly made her mark as a milliner, designer and stylist. She was featured in Brown Thomas’ CREATE collection in 2014 as an emerging Irish talent and returned to their windows this summer with her creations taking up almost an entire window.

But is being creative still an easy thing?
“My high fashion pieces are more refined. I’m getting better, and editing my own work quicker,” she says. “My current commercial collection, “Powerhouse”, is different, yet very accessible to the public. I’m happy that the commercial side of my work has developed a lot in two years,” she says.

Despite her A-list fans, Margaret has no intention of chasing down other celebrities and begging them to wear her hats. “I’m going to make amazing hats and then they’ll want to come to me,” she smiles.

It’s not only hats Margaret is passionate about, she is interested in Indie music and would try to push the alternative scene here in Ireland. She is also a charity campaigner having recently created a range of hats for breast cancer awareness charity Hello Beautiful.

Creative, smart and socially aware, Margaret O’Connor is not only enviably chic but thoroughly likeable. No doubt her star will continue to rise.

website- www.margaretmillinery.com
Stockists-
Marion Cuddy, Second Floor Powerscourt Town Centre, South William Street, Dublin
Galway hat shop, Corbett Court/Eyre Square Shopping Centre, Williamsgate St, Galway
Photography Credit: James Hazlett-Beard
Draighionn” collection.