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Countrification: The New Wave of Fashion?

Updated: Oct 7

If you adhere to the yeehaw agenda, 2025 is your year — which is why I’m having my hay day (pun intended). If you have eyes or an Instagram account, you’ve surely noticed Western wear on the rise, from last year’s runway looks forecasting 2025 to the current New York Fashion Week trends. Big-name brands like Ralph Lauren, Miu Miu, and Prada have all put their boots on the ground, subscribing to the country-inspired wave of fashion now hanging on racks across the U.S.

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So, who (or what) is responsible for the “countrification” of designer and showroom outfits? Perhaps it’s the fact that Western wear has always balanced affordability and history — a style equally at home on the farm or in the club, where a bolo tie feels just as welcome as a cocktail dress. Utility may be its biggest flex: denim providing both functionality and flair; flannels offering weather-proofing and layering options; and cow-sourced leathers or furs functioning as protectants and statements.


Across Southern, Western, and Midwestern subcultures, these staples have evolved into aesthetics that now feel elevated, urbanized, and freshly provocative. Some have even dubbed the trend “cunt-ry” or “flex-patriotic” — catchy but accurate descriptions for a look that feels both traditional and subversive at once.


Provocative yet traditional all at the same time, how could we begin to talk about Western wear without the mention of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour, which has featured some of the most iconic concert costumes. From a studded, floor-length denim gown that braved torrential rain in New Jersey, to an all-white, fur-accented leather ensemble at her Christmas halftime show during the NFL’s so-called “Beyoncé Bowl.”


This album, and the resounding effects it has left beyond the Beyhive, seemed to be one domino that fell in a string of pop culture moments with Western inspiration. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” single leaned into honky-tonk beats and Dixie-inspired desert visuals, while Chappell Roan’s “The Giver” gave sapphic reinvention to the archetypal working man, pairing two-step sounds with cheeky, everyday Americana visuals.


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In Houston, Nashville, or Santa Fe, cowboy hats and Ariats have always been closet staples. But now that these elements are marching down New York, LA, and even London streets (gasp), Americana feels more radical than ever. You may point to rebranded patriotism as a big cause of what’s been a long-standing trend on both ends of current politics in the U.S.: the pride of hyper-traditional American-isms, and the response of raised, authentic ideas of what country really means.


Whatever the significance, as a Texan-turned-New Yorker, I declare my pride for this movement into the 2026 fashion season, and as an ill-fashioned American, I intend to hold on tight to the aforementioned yeehaw agenda until every item is checked off.

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