Beyonce is instructing her Beyhive to get in (rodeo) formation.
The 28-time Grammy winner and powerhouse behind streetwear label Ivy Park dropped her fourth collection in partnership with Adidas, putting her own signature spin on the booming Western trend.
But while pop culture has recently been overrun by rodeo style—fashion gurus like Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner were photographed slipping on cowboy boots in place of sandals, and a recent episode of “The Bachelorette” centered on a denim-heavy rodeo-themed challenge—the trend has deep roots in Black American culture.
This lesser-known fact has been weaving its way to the forefront in recent years, with Western-leaning Wrangler and PVH-owned Tommy Hilfiger each using denim-focused collections to tell the story of Black cowboys. According to the Federation of Black Cowboys (FBC), a Wrangler partner and New York City-based cowboy community that remains committed to sharing the legacy of their cowboy ancestors, African American cowboys made up nearly 25 percent of all cowboys in the Western Frontier in the late 1800s.
Adidas and Ivy Park’s “Ivy Park Rodeo” follows suit, offering dark-wash denim looks inspired by Black pioneers within cowboy and cowgirl culture and their continued influence and impact on the American Rodeo. Mixing streetwear and cowboy elements, the collection includes 58 garments for men and women, as well as five footwear styles and 13 accessories. A classic Western fabric, dark-wash denim is balanced throughout with washed heavy French terry fabrications. Unique accents like bold purple glow cow prints and utilitarian-inspired trims punctuate the Western theme.
Beyoncé herself appears in the campaign decked out in some of the collection’s key pieces, posing in front of a blazing fire in a denim corset bodysuit paired with a wide-leg snap pant, complete with Adidas’s trademark trio of stripes. She also takes the collection’s striking denim chaps out for a spin, pairing the peekaboo pants with high-rise ultra-short shorts and a white crop top.
The collection also includes a denim tracksuit, denim joggers, hoodies, sweatpants, bucket hats and the perennially popular denim sneaker. Footwear fans can shop the IVP Ultraboost in two colorways, a new color for the IVP Forum Mid and a brand-new silhouette, the IVP Super Sleek “Chunky,” whose “exaggerated outsole” plays into the ugly shoe trend.
Meanwhile, traditional Western elements like big-buckle belts pull together the campaign imagery.
Beyoncé fans likely saw this collection coming ever since the “Run the World” chart-topper made headlines wearing Burberry’s cow-print bodysuit in her “Black is King” video last year. Global fashion shopping platform Lyst reported that consumers immediately took to their keyboards to sniff out similar statement pieces. Other rodeo-inspired items, such as cowboy hats and bolo ties, continue to rank high in internet queries. Global searches for cowboy boots in particular rose 27 percent in April compared to the previous month.
Eagle-eyed watchers might have picked up on other clues that the drop was on the way, as the “Love on Top” singer teased a video of “The Wire” actor Glynn Turman bedecked in the Western collection on both the Ivy Park website and Instagram account.
Ivy Park Rodeo will be available beginning Aug. 19 on adidas.com. It retails for $45 to $200 for apparel, $25 to $75 for accessories and $140 to $200 for footwear.