This image released shows the Cowboy Carter album cover by Beyonce. It shows her in cowboy attired and riding a horse. Photo: AP
Beyonce released her eighth studio album last week (March 29), and following in its footsteps is a sudden interest in country fashion.
The digital cover for Cowboy Carter shows the singer-songwriter riding a white horse and wearing a cowboy outfit.
This style of dressing is often defined as western or country wear. Just think of wide-brimmed hats, bolo ties, riding boots, denim and lots of fringe.
Country looks defined the Louis Vuitton Autumn/Winter 2024 menswear collection and runway show. Photo: Louis VuittonBeyonce herself has been repping the trend for quite some time.
At the 2024 Grammys in February, she wore an oversized black leather jacket with silver embellishments. The outfit is from Louis Vuitton.
She skipped this year’s Academy Awards, but made an appearance at her Oscars Gold Party – something she hosts annually with her husband, Jay-Z.For this, she again wore a country outfit. It was a Givenchy structured blazer cinched with a pin and flared trousers.
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Cowboy hats became quite the defining fashion accessory for her fans attending the Beyonce Renaissance World Tour concerts last year.
She herself wore a lot of cowboy hats (the sparkly, mirrored kind) during the performances.
Being the huge style icon that she is, it is understandable how Beyonce is able to incite another trend revival.
When the Cowboy Carter album was announced in February, global Google searches for the term “cowboy hat” skyrocketed by 212.5% – according to online fashion retailer Boohoo.
Cowboy chic
Country fashion is not entirely new though. It is an enduring aesthetic – something that a lot of luxury designers have returned to again and again.
The Schiaparelli Spring/Summer 2024 haute couture collection featured country influences.
“You’ll see abstracted references to iconographies of my home state of Texas throughout,” the fashion house’s creative director, Daniel Roseberry, said in the press notes.
Among his many designs, he remade bandanas into hand-painted paillettes. The cowboy boot was reconceived as a thigh-high fantasy featuring buckles.
Pharrell Williams, men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton, put on a rodeo show of sorts in January to present his Autumn/Winter 2024 collection.
Dior played on the equestrian theme for its Cruise 2023 collection. Photo: Dior
Schiaparelli's Spring/Summer 2024 couture banked on the country aesthetic. Shown here is a model wearing a pair of pants completely covered with cowboy-inspired silver-plated buckles, and patent black leather cowboy boots. Photo: Schiaparelli
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The stage setup comprised a backdrop of rolling canyons and valleys, rocky mountain ranges and dry plains at sunset.
Williams’ designs included workwear recalling the American Western wardrobe. The pieces were laden with cowboy iconography, as well included looks designed in collaboration with Native American artists.
The Dior Cruise 2023 collection included chapped pants and gaucho hats.
Other designers like Thom Browne, Charaf Tajer and Kenneth Ize have also toyed around with country-inspired looks in the past.
