As some of you know, our dear friend Louis Mariette always participate at the Royal Ascot with his beautiful hats and headpieces; but today we are not going to talk about the glamour and the fashion part of the Royal Ascot, instead we are going to talk about the dark side of it.
For this special cause, TV Conservationist Anneka Svenska and Louis Mariette came together to make awareness about the 1400+ racehorses, which have died at British races since 2007.
The astounding hat, which left race-goers transfixed, towers a staggering one foot above the wearer’s head, down the neck and finishes by cascading to the ground for well over 6ft.
To make this amazing Hat, Anneka and Louis hand-painted all roses in honor of all the horses that have died over the period of the races. This creation has an explosion of hand-painted roses in a shade of red that was ironically called “RED STALLION”. The roses were then given a subtle effect of black paint marbling and varnished.
To follow the prestigious event of Royalty, the design on the neck base was a regal grid curvature inspired by Medieval Queens. The base fabric is a blocked and stitched gold weave finished with and over a layer of jet black crystal bead embellishments. The heavy structure required two people to hold the garlands of roses as Anneka arrived at Royal Ascot.
“As a child, I innocently dreamed of wearing the largest hat to Ascot and when I grew up, it happened! While wearing previous hats, I have NEVER placed a bet, supported the actual racing or even walked down to the track, however, I decided last year to refrain from attending Ascot at all, as it was conveying the wrong message and I felt it was ethically wrong, especially as I work with animals. This year I have decided to return to use a large amount of publicity I receive in order to raise standards for horses at tracks all over the UK and do some good” – Anneka
Did you know that approximately one in every 37 horses who starts a season’s racing will have perished by the end of it? They will have died as a result of a racecourse or training injury, or they will be killed after being judged to be no longer financially viable. (source The Trouble with Horse Racing – Animal Aid)
It’s time that the safety of the animals must be put above profits and Anneka would like to propose short-term:
For more information about this cause please visit: Anneka Svenska
Tom Ross
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