First past post in style race

Seven finalists were hand-picked from the crowd for this year’s Fashion in the Field event, but only two went home winners: stylist Kellie Walker and barber Qasim Mohammad. Neither had been involved in a fashion in the field competition before and for Mohammad yesterday was his first time at the races. His win marked a change in fortune, after his brother lost several thousand dollars on a bet earlier in the day. Mohammad was wearing a classic cut, tight-fitting brown three-piece suit which had been made for him in Turkey. His brown leather loafers were also made in Turkey. He owns a barber shop in Manurewa and was at Ellerslie with his two brothers and some of his shop staff. Both winners took home swag including vouchers for beauty treatments, a massive bouquet of flowers and a magnum of champagne. Walker was clad in a tastefully clashing blue and yellow Mossman dress, with a blue fascinator designed by Claire Hahn. The gravity-defying headpiece was reminiscent of a strand of DNA. Walker had spent the day with a group of friends and said she planned to share her champagne with them. She had never so much as entered a fashion competition before, when she was picked with Mohammad and five others as a finalist. “It makes me want to enter more,” she said, joking that she might be back for the Boxing Day races. The Christmas time competition is serious stuff, with contestants shelling out hundreds and even thousands of dollars on spectacular attire. Walker was a stylist, so perhaps her win was no surprise. “It’s my job to look good — and make others look good.” — Tess Nichol