Harris Tweed-attired Morestead marks Cheltenham 2016
Mar 14, 2016 1168

Harris Tweed-attired Morestead marks Cheltenham 2016

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The world's first three-piece Harris Tweed suit for a horse has been unveiled.

Fashion designer Emma Sandham-King created the garment to celebrate horse racing's 2016 Cheltenham Festival, which starts on Tuesday.

Harris Tweed is hand woven by islanders of Harris, Lewis, Uist and Barra using wool that has been dyed and spun in the islands.

Ms Sandham-King was an apprentice of the late Alexander McQueen.

The acclaimed London-born designer McQueen, who died in 2010, had ancestral links to Scotland and used Harris Tweed and tartan in many of his designs.
'Real divas'

Ms Sandham-King and her team of seamstresses and tailors spent four weeks creating the suit using more than 18m (59ft) of tweed.

The suit, modelled by race horse Morestead and champion jockey Sir Tony McCoy, required 10 times as much fabric as an equivalent human suit.

The horse-sized garment was commissioned by bookmakers William Hill.