It’s week three of the 2024 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and deep in the underbelly of NRG Stadium, Bernard “Bun B” Freeman is in his dressing room. He wears black leather from neck-to-toe; ribbons of gunmetal fringe run down each leg and across his back in wingspan fashion. A panel of white on his motorcycle jacket reads “UGK”—shorthand for Underground Kings, the hip-hop duo he co-founded with Chad “Pimp C” Butler in Port Arthur, Texas, circa 1987. In a few hours, he’ll take the stage to headline the Houston Rodeo’s “All-American Takeover,” welcoming guests including Drake, Nelly and Rick Ross. But beforehand, he takes a moment to talk fashion.
Like many a Texan, Bun B has clocked western-wear’s recent surge in mainstream popularity. “Fashion every now and then sets its eye on the common man, the working man,” he tells Vogue. Just look at what Pharrell [Williams] has done.”
For his sophomore show as Louis Vuitton Men’s creative director, Williams sent three versions of the LV Texan Boot—crafted at the French house’s leather goods atelier, Rochambeau Ranch, in North Texas, with input from El Paso-based Stallion Boots—down the Paris runway in January. The following month, Beyoncé, a born and bred Houstonian, tipped her Stetson hat to Williams at the Grammys in a variation of Vuitton’s fall 2024 menswear collection closing look. Add to that forthcoming country albums from Mrs. Carter and Lana Del Rey, chaps proliferating fall 2024 collections, and the horse girl-ification of Bella Hadid amid her romance with cowboy Adan Banuelos.
Every year, the Houston Rodeo transforms 350 acres of NRG Park (home of the NFL’s Houston Texans) into a temporary Small Town, Texas. Founded in 1932, the volunteer-run, 501(c)3 organization is the largest livestock show on earth, with a daily population that reaches up to 165,000. There are 19 nights of concerts, three days of world championship Bar-B-Que contest under chandelier-lined white tents, and 10-gallon cowboy hats ay every turn.
Bun B emerged as the unofficial sheriff of the annual microcosm in 2022, when it was restored to its pre-pandemic glory. The rapper and entrepreneur, who is also behind Houston’s wildly popular Trill Burgers, has been dressing the part ever since. This year, he collaborated with Houston native and Purple streetwear CEO Luke Cosby on his all-leather-everything look. The monogrammed stamp on the heel of his Lucchese caiman cowboy boots came courtesy of DTLA Custom, which is owned by fellow Houstonian Tara Martin. “It’s all an effort to keep things as Houston-centric and hyper-localized as possible,” Bun B says.
Tonight, as Vogue descends upon one of the birthplaces of western fashion, the crowd’s inclination toward disco ball cowboy hats and mirrored accessories buck against fashion’s more straightforward interpretation of the trend. (Beyoncé performed two shows at NRG Stadium in August, and many rodeo goers appear to remain firmly in their Renaissance era.) Shaniqua Barnes, 31, is awash in silver sequins and wearing a pink cowboy hat; Tytiana Williams, 31, is dripping in crystal fringe.
Elsewhere on the grounds, Brandon Citizen, 38, spins proudly in a vintage beaded suede Scully jacket, passed down from his late father after several decades of authentic wear. A western trend enthusiast, Citizen raises his phone, flashing an Instagram photo of Drake posted earlier that day; the rapper is in the exact same jacket. “Hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” Citizen says.
There are, of course, rodeo purists who appreciate their everyday uniform being replicated on catwalks and TikTok, (should someone tell content creators that wearing damp socks is the fastest way to soften stiff cowboy boot leather?) though are otherwise unfazed. They’ve spent years earning sartorial bragging rights. You’ll know a rodeo lifer by the number of gold pins on their badge, swinging low and heavy on a lanyard, or by the patina on their squash blossom necklace, which around these parts, often costs more than a Ford pick-up truck.
Dana Barton, of Austin-based Schaefer Outfitter, entrusted Maida’s Belts Buckles to make her one-of-a-kind turquoise necklace. As a member of the Rodeo Auction Angels, a philanthropic steer buying group, she spends early mornings in the dirt surveying cattle, with little to no time for glam before concerts. “With the expansion into high fashion, I feel like western wear takes people back to their roots,” she says. “Though growing up, I loved the song by Barbara Mandrell, ‘I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.’”
