Cowboy core is having a moment.
The cowboy aesthetic and Western inspiration had long permeated American fashion from the days of Western movies to the commercialization of country music. Cowboy boots and a cowboy hats are often the sartorial basis for many a country music video — but now, the country vibes seem to be branching further into pop culture.
Cowboy core is the latest trend sweeping the internet and has found an audience from TikTok’s Gen Z fashion lovers to Beyoncé’s diehard “Beyhive” fans.
While the cowboy-core aesthetic might seem new, it has popped up at various points in the luxury fashion conversation. There was Raf Simon’s tenure as creative director of Calvin Klein, when the brand’s luxury label, 205W39NYC, saw adoption of its Western-style boots and shirts among street-style stars and influencers.
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In 2021, Olivier Rousteing put his spin on fashion seen in classic American Western films, reimagining the look in a collaboration with Netflix’s “The Harder They Fall,” an action movie about Black cowboys. In addition to designing some pieces for the film, the Balmain creative director produced a spinoff collection, Balmain x The Harder They Fall. The men’s and women’s ready-to-wear capsule collection was released in November that year.
In late 2022, 139-year-old boot brand Lucchese and the 75-year-old Western wear brand Wrangler collaborated on co-branded men’s cowboy boots and jeans.
And at Copenhagen Fashion Week‘s fall 2023 shows, several designers also offered cowboy prints, hats and boots, including Remain, Rotate and OpéraSport.
Elements of cowboy inspiration were also seen in Glenn Martens’ recent collections for Diesel with Western-inspired boots. A quick search on Diesel’s website shows its D-Western boots in dark violet are sold out in most sizes.
And today’s mainstream pop stars and actors have set the internet ablaze with search interest for cowboy-style fashion.
When mega pop star Beyoncé released the visuals for her “Renaissance” album, one of her biggest fashion statements was a disco ball cowboy hat.
The hat was the work of 24-year-old Abbey Misbin, an Etsy shop owner who creates them for $285. The independent shop owner and designer’s disco ball hats sold out within two hours following the Renaissance Tour announcement last week.
Misbin was contacted by one of Beyoncé’s stylists to create the hat, which features glass tiles attached by hand, in five days. After a Beyoncé fan account revealed Misbin made the hat, she’s received an influx of orders that now has her working nonstop to fulfill them according to a video she posted on TikTok.
Beyoncé isn’t the only pop star embracing cowboy core. Harry Styles appeared at multiple concerts for Love on Tour in the past year wearing cowboy hats with feathers and other design treatments. His fans were wearing them, too.
There has been an increase in searches for “cowgirl hat” in the U.S. throughout the high profile appearances, catapulting the term 117 percent, according to Journoresearch.org.
Katy Perry, who attended last year’s Country Music Awards, took sartorial inspiration from the traditional country music aesthetic with a distressed denim patchwork dress with fringe trim coordinated with a cowboy hat to complete her cowboy core style.
Currently, a search on TikTok for “cowboy core” will yield results with videos racking up over 150,000 likes.
The trend doesn’t just stop with hats, as evidenced by the visuals for Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album, which also saw her in fringe jackets and cowboy boots.