Exclusive | ‘Year of Yeehaw’: Why Cowboy-core Is Much ‘Deeper’ Than ‘Fragrance of the Month’

This city is big enough for a trend, and this year, everyone is going country.

From blockbuster movies and chart-topping hits to the spread of Western wear and cowboy chic, pop culture is awash with the scenes, songs and styles of the great American West—fitting for a particularly patriotic year for the U.S.— in with the success of 2024. The Olympics and the upcoming elections.

“When you’re around 160 years, you see trends come and go, but this moment feels different,” Tyler Thoreson, Stetson’s vice president of marketing, told The Post. “The current embrace of Western style represents something deeper than just being the fashion flavor of the month.”

Recent data from Pinterest revealed that searches for “country glam” are up 8,700% from last year and queries for “western style wear” are up 418%, while a new report from The Real Real showed that interest for vintage Levi jeans and fringed leather has grown. almost 70%

Fueled by the release of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album in March — featuring songs such as “Texas Hold ‘Em” and a rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” — the trend has since intensified, with the release of “Tough” from Lana comes out. Rey features Quavo and Post Malone’s album “F-1 Trillion,” which reached no. 1 spot on Spotify’s debut charts last week.

Then there’s pop darling Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, which features slightly edgier tunes like many weeks.

“If you can’t already tell from our award winners and performers, the music business is going country. We are going to the country. It’s happening,” del Rey said earlier this year at a pre-Grammy event.

But the swing of the pendulum is not limited to radio hits. Along with the release of the Oklahoma tornado movie Twisters, it has created the perfect storm that has infiltrated almost every aspect of modern life.

Indeed, this aptly named “year of the yeehaw” extends to fashion, with pieces that can be worn from the farm to the runway.

Even on the streets of New York City – far from the rodeo – there are jeans with boots, western shoes and big belts attached, with the likes of Hollywood actor Glen Powell crinkling his jeans in true cowboy style, wedding ” country chic” by Nick Viall and trendsetters like Kim Kardashian and Bella Hadid flaunting cowgirl fashion.

Pharrell Williams’ Fall 2024 Men’s Collection for Louis Vuitton fringes, leather and saddle-friendly cow prints paired with wide-brimmed hats, bolo ties and other candy motifs like cactus and paisley emblems or turquoise gems.

Meanwhile, Schiaparelli took a space cowboy approach with futuristic designs married to traditional Western shapes and patterns, and Isabel Marant debuted a fall 2024 line filled with fringe and suede.

But the so-called trend is a way of life for rural Americans, and cowboy-core versatility makes items like denim a fashion mainstay. In fact, it’s “very rare” to find an outfit that can be worn on the ranch or on the red carpet, John Meagher, senior director of marketing for Wrangler, told The Post.

“Maybe for some people, they just gravitate towards fashion or they’re more interested in music and the kind of fusion that you’re seeing between country music and mainstream music and crossover artists,” Boot Barn’s creative director and vice president of marketing. Isha Nicole told The Post. “Maybe this is their way in this world.”

And this trend is not all hat, no cattle.

“I don’t think this is something that’s just going to come and go and we’ll move on,” Nicole added. “It’s very embedded in what it means to be American.”

So why is it now, 70 years after the heyday of country westerns depicting regular saloon raiders and shootouts with fictional outlaws, that the spirit of the American West is suddenly back in vogue?

“I think there’s something powerful about saying, this is an American genre or an American style, an American story, that doesn’t belong to any specific group,” Ryan Hall, an associate professor of Native American studies and history at the University Colgate, told The Post.

Indeed, Western style is associated with “something much bigger” than a pair of boots or cowboy-cut jeans, Nicole said — it embodies the American identity, such as kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty and pride of country.

Those values, Meagher said, can resonate whether you’re “18 to 21 years old and living in Brooklyn or living in Echo Park, or if you’re farming in Texas or Wyoming.”

Along with a longing for the great outdoors after the pandemic and a nostalgia for normalcy in an era of economic hardship, the rapid advancement of AI and a divided nation, people are looking to the traditional styles of the Great American West.

“To me, wearing a western hat, a denim shirt or a pair of cowboy boots is an expression of individuality, but it also connects you to a set of traditions and values ​​that span generations,” Thoreson said. “That’s a powerful combination.”