It’s a clothes horse — a horse in a three-piece Harris Tweed suit and flat cap.
Unveiled by 20-time champion jockey Tony McCoy, the equine number — labeled a “world first” — was worn by veteran racehorse Morestead ahead of this week’s Cheltenham Festival, which is one of Britain’s most prestigious jump meetings.
“Some models can be real divas, but Morestead was calm and a pleasure to work with,” said the suit’s creator Emma Sandham-King, who is an apprentice of the late Alexander McQueen.
“Creating the world’s first tweed suit for a horse has been one of the biggest challenges that I have faced in my career as a designer,” added Sandham-King, who together with her team spent four weeks working on the outfit.
A favored fashion choice for many horse racing spectators, tweed fans at the festival will wear enough of the material to stretch 200 miles from Cheltenham all the way to Ireland, according to statistician Dr. Geoff Ellis.
Morestead’s suit was cut from over 18 meters of tweed — enough fabric to kit out 10 people — shipped all the way from the Isle of Harris, which is northwest of Scotland.
“I think Morestead is a bit like the Naomi Campbell of the modeling world; he’s strutting his stuff and he’s wearing the tweed with style,” said Jon Ivan Duke of bookmakers William Hill, which commissioned the outfit.
The four-day Cheltenham Festival kicks off Tuesday March 15 and ends with Friday’s iconic Gold Cup race.
