Fashion headfirst: June Youngman
June Youngman wears many hats, some of those being the finishing touch to a winning race-day outfit. Metropol Deputy Editor Nina Tucker talks to the Addington Raceway fashion coordinator about how she ties both life and look together.
June grew up in Fiji, never believing that her life would one day look like this, “Fiji has one horse race and it’s on the beach,” she remarks. Now, she’s the owner of many sashes and has developed an exquisitely sartorial eye.
Fashion lives within everyone, June tells me. It just takes the right moment for that spark to be stimulated. For her, that moment was the wardrobe she saw and fell in love with every day when working as a stunt woman in Auckland. In 2002, June joined a talent agency and, after completing stunt training, began landing some incredible productions. Each amazing set called for an equally outstanding wardrobe, and “that’s how my love for fashion started,” June explains. Like a stunt, she dived in headfirst.
While on the outside her life is one of glitz and glam, June’s day-to-day is humble and happy. “I’m a mum first.” They consist of school drop-offs, watching her son fly with his newly-gained solo pilot licence, and jumping in between work at Addington, her farm machinery business in North Canterbury, and a development project for her home in Fiji. If she is not bringing gorgeous outfits together, or organising events that champion them, June can be found hunting with her loved ones or captaining a boat and fishing in the Marlborough Sounds or Fiji.
That is not to say she isn’t always dreaming of new looks and beautiful clothes. Yet, it is the community in racing fashion that inspires her. “It’s a super cool experience. I have met many amazing ladies and gentlemen through fashion, and some have become great friends not just in New Zealand but Australia.” Come Melbourne Cup, June can never wait to be reunited with those connections.
With a recognised name in racing fashion, June has a reputation and is held to a high standard. It’s not something she’s scared of, as she focuses her influence and expertise on expanding and enabling the industry. “I support fashion and horse racing events around the country when I can.” Like a guiding sister, “I help ladies who are just getting into fashion with advice and suitability on winter and summer fashions,” June says, while also focusing on ideas of her own. June manages a Facebook page, Millinery and Racewear For Sale New Zealand, where people can engage in their love for fashion and share racing wear.
A life of beauty does not come devoid of pain. In December 2023, June lost her mother and best friend. “I’m still coming to terms with it. She was my whole world.” With an amazing group of friends and her work in the male-dominated farming sector where she “loves the banter”, June is always lifted when she needs to be.
There may have been an invisible string tying June to Addington all along. A location she always kept close to her heart, June says, as she recites her favourite looks. “My first one would be at Addington where I won my first sash.”
In her role, she hopes to see the annual event become a destination for racing fashion, similar to the Melbourne Cup, with “all the style and glamour.” June envisions it evolving into an entirely inclusive and diverse event. “I would like to make it more accessible to all shapes and sizes, so anyone can enter and have a chance of winning,” she explains.
Concept to completion: June’s racing fashion process
She will always start with a dress, whether custom-made or ready-to-wear. Second comes the hat, “and I’m very picky when it comes to hats,” June laughs. “I have spent up to $1000 on my hat just to get what I wanted, and as little as $80. A well-made hat makes you feel great.”
Big, bright colours are what catch June’s eye. “Anything that stands out, that’s me,” she says. She unearths inspiration in the collections of Dior, and other brands producing beautiful couture. Then, June uses Pinterest to collate and refine her ideas. “Technology has made it so much easier to come up with the look you are after.
The hard bit is putting it all together, it always takes longer than you think.” Between a seamstress, milliner, and June, the process is extensive. She tells me that racing fashion does not need to be expensive. She reflects on winning her first sash at Addington in a $115 dress from ASOS. “As long as you put together a great look and follow the theme of the event, you should be good.”
When the vision comes to life, June admires it from head to toe. “Without seeing anyone else’s outfit, I feel like this is the one, this is good enough to win,” June smiles. Imagine a dopamine rush, the release of excitement from a look you are in love with. “Sometimes, how you feel in an outfit is as important as the outfit itself,” she says.
