Beyoncé Sparks Online Searches for Jeans; Name-Drops Cowboy Brands on New Album
Beyoncé’s highly anticipated country album “Cowboy Carter” dropped Friday, sparking instant fashion trends.
Aware of her impact, Beyoncé’ sings “Wear that sh*t that I know start a trend,” in “Sweet Honey Buckiin,” a genre-busting hip-hop and country track on the album.
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Searches for “flared jeans” hit an all-time high worldwide following Beyoncé’s Instagram post promoting the new release, according to Dalston Mill Fabrics, a U.K. fabric retailer. The company said searches for the jeans increased 372 percent. Searches for “denim vest” also increased 105 percent globally compared to the last five years after the photo of Beyoncé wearing double denim hit social media.
The Canadian Tuxedo is gaining momentum as well. Dalston found that searches for “double denim” have increased 126 percent worldwide this month.
Double denim was a key look on the Beyoncé’s Ivy Park Rodeo collection with Adidas in 2021. Campaign images for the Western-inspired collection have resurfaced since news of “Cowboy Carter.” Images and video from the campaign were also repurposed in a music video for for the first single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Though Western is a constant through line in denim fashion, a confluence of pop culture moments and fashion milestones have amplified the theme in recent seasons. Wrangler’s 75th anniversary in 2021 and the 150th anniversary of the Levi’s 501 in 2023 thrust heritage denim back in the spotlight, giving the brands opportunities to share their histories. Meanwhile, Pharrell Williams’ rodeo collection for Louis Vuitton presented earlier this year in Paris has given the fashion genre a designer glow-up.
Beyoncé has worn several Western looks from the Louis Vuitton collection in the lead up to the album release, as well as cowboy looks from Marine Serre, Luar and Y/Project.
The second act of Beyoncé’s music trilogy continues the tradition of referencing fashion brands in lyrics to help tell the 32-time Grammy Award-winning artist’s story. Whereas Act I: Renaissance name-dropped luxury labels like Tiffany’s, Chanel, Balenciaga, and Gucci and revealed that she swapped her Hermès Birkin bags (in storage) in favor of Telfar’s vegan totes, “Cowboy Carter” dials in on heritage Western brands.
Texan boot brand Lucchese gets an early shout-out in “Sweet Honey Buckiin.” Established in 1883, the company is known for hand-stitching leather boots and perfecting the lasting process.
The allure of classic Levi’s blue jeans is the premise of “Levii’s Jeans,” a duet that has Beyoncé and Post Malone trading lines about wishing to be their paramour’s Levi’s jeans. Beyoncé sings, “Boy, I’ll let you be my Levi’s jeans so you can hug that ass all day long.” Post Malone, who wears Levi’s often, sings, “Oh, girl, I wish I was your Levi’s jeans.”
Other lyrics praise the simplicity of a good pair of classic jeans. “Love it when you tease me in them jeans, girl, you don’t need designer,” Post Malone sings. Beyoncé responds with, “Denim on denim on denim on denim. Give you high fashion in a simple white tee. Give you these blues, it’s in my jeans.”
The Beyoncé shout-out has overshadowed the launch of its dance campaign with DJ Kaytranada, but Levi’s is basking in the “Cowboy Carter” afterglow.
After Beyoncé revealed the track list of her album on Wednesday via Instagram, the brand changed its name and logo on social media to “Levii’s,” adding an extra “i” to match the title of the song. “FKA [Formerly known as] Levi’s,” the brand wrote in its Instagram bio, adding a bee emoji.
Levi’s is likely to ride the Western wave for a while. The brand’s Fall 2024 collection is dense with vintage cowboy graphics, men’s flannel shirts and women’s denim vests and fishtail maxi skirts.
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