The idealized image of the old American West lives stubbornly in our imaginations. For many, it invokes an image of John Wayne’s stoic glare or the sweeping panoramas of Western cinema. For others, like me, it conjures scenes of long cattle drives and dust clouds rising behind galloping horses’ hooves. But despite differing views, almost everyone envisions the archetypal cowboy — a rugged, resilient and blue-collar survivor who toils from dawn to dusk. His uniform is one of endurance: Boots built to guard against brush and snakes, denim tough enough to survive long days on a saddle and thick shearling collars turned high to protect against the cutting wind.
Born out of necessity, old American Western wear was never meant to be glamorous; every piece of clothing was designed to withstand a life of work and survival. But this fall, high fashion has taken the classic cowboy’s workwear and flipped it on its head. Designers have glamorized ranch life, reimagining it as one of the season’s most coveted luxury aesthetics.
Vogue’s October 2025 cover captures this transformation well: A classic Western yoke appears on a sharply tailored jacket worn by Kendall Jenner as she leans into Gigi Hadid, whose patchwork mini dress stands out against a Wyoming backdrop. Luxury houses have also embraced the revival; Versace sent studded denim and patchwork detailing down its Fall 2025 Milan Fashion Week runway; Isabel Marant paired plaid flannels with denim vests and skirts during its Fall-Winter 2025 Paris Fashion Week show and Schiaparelli incorporated Western motifs into its Fall-Winter 2025 collection through maximalist silver-and-gold hardware belts and a dramatic fringed leather jacket.
Western wear has successfully infiltrated streetwear too. Many have swapped sneakers for knee-high banana leather boots, pairing them with slip dresses and airy skirts. This fall, that shift toward old West-inspired minimalism will become even more prevalent. Designers are steering away from flashy rodeo prints and heavy fringe and into simpler interpretations. Brands like Khaite and Isabel Marant embody this shift, producing chic and elevated cowboy and riding boots adapted for urban life. Meanwhile, fast fashion labels like Steve Madden and Mango are creating more affordable and comfortable interpretations in chocolate browns and smooth black leather. The way we wear them is also evolving. Boots no longer just disappear beneath denim — many influencers and stylists are now tucking straight-leg and baggy jeans into boots.
The influence of the old West doesn’t stop at the iconic cowboy boot. Denim is darkening into richer indigos, and suede — a usual fall favorite — is having a big moment, showing up in cropped jackets and slouchy shoulder bags. Fringe is everywhere as well, swaying from jacket sleeves and dangling from boots. Even the pearl-snap blouses are back in rotation, but in more tailored and feminine forms.
Part of the appeal with this style is rooted in nostalgia. Slipping into a pair of cowboy boots or worn-in denim feels a little like jumping back in time. For a moment, we’re back in the rugged, untamed version of America that Western culture idealizes. Fashion has capitalized on that sentiment; it has tugged on our nostalgia, taken a trend so steeped in tradition and transformed it into something modern, elevated and far more wearable for everyday life.
But while the trend feels nostalgic for many of us, it’s important to remember that the frontier was never truly empty, that the cowboy wasn’t often as heroic as we imagine him to be. The myth of the West simplifies a complex story; it glosses over the Indigenous communities that were displaced from the land they lived on for centuries. The romanticized West that fashion borrows from today is thus less a reflection of reality and more a reconstruction of an ideal built on longing and imagination.
It’s that layered history that makes the current Western revival so important. Fashion thrives on reinvention, and designers are not just revisiting Western motifs but redefining them. Celebrities like Beyoncé, who has reframed the cowboy as a figure of Black pride, are reclaiming these motifs altogether. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter era carried the same spirit of reinvention these other brands have embraced, introducing rodeo-inspired outfits on stadium stages and red carpets alike. Blinged-out denim, flowing fringe and cowboy hats of every print and embellishment have helped reignite a fascination with old Western styles. The result of all this is fashion that reimagines the fictitious American West beyond its clichés and transforms the classic uniform of labor and endurance into one of sophistication and self-expression.
Daily Arts Contributor Charley Levine can be reached at charlev@umich.edu.
