Bella Hadid: The Supermodel Steering Fashion West

Bella Hadid has become a household name in the fashion world, and not only for her looks on the runway. As a driving force in setting trends, Hadid has revived the Adidas sneaker,  led the resurgence of chunky jewelry, reinvented the denim midi skirts, and made platform uggs a must have. And after her bold, trend-setting past, Hadid is heading in a new direction: West. 

With a professional bull riding boyfriend and her own equestrian history, Hadid recently relocated to Texas and fully embraced the aesthetic of her surroundings.  Perhaps most famously, Hadid closed New York Fashion Week in September 2024 donning a pinstripe black button down, dark wash denim, fringe chaps, kemosabe black suede cowboy hat, and distressed brown cowboy boots, a look which achieved immediate virality. Later in the night, she slipped into black leather pants, a yellow leather bustier, with a fringe-line neck, a chunky turquoise necklace, and the same black hat. Needless to say, Hadid was intentionally keeping with a theme for the evening. 

Beyond playing dressing up in fringe and cowboy boots, Hadid is completely redefining western chic in a full gallop. Market analysts predicted that the market for cowboy boots would grow from USD 254.4 million in 2023, with a capital annual growth rate of 6.7% from 2023 to 2033. More recently, since April of 2024, searches for “cowboy” were up 187% between April and July, while searches for “cowboy hats” and “Western boots” were up 66% and 145%, respectively.

As Hadid navigates her new Western style, she is not following the trends rather, curating them as she finds unique ways to blend archival pieces with a modern twist.. The aforementioned black pinstripe blouse was actually an archive Susamusa Sienna Shirt. Yet, her affinity for archival finds doesn’t stop here. In fact, Hadid’s stylist team recently sourced a pair of early 2000s Christian Dior cowboy boots to add to her growing Western wardrobe. Hadid wore them on multiple occasions in Texas, including a horse breeding event with her bull-rider boyfriend. The model seemingly seeks out historically significant pieces to further authenticate her unique Western aesthetic. AMO Vintage, a go-to  vintage dealer for Hadid, reveals  that she specifically requests Western-focused finds, further proving  her dedication to  blending her already vintage wardrobe with the rising Western wave.

Hadid’s early embrace of Western aesthetics did more than spark social media buzz, it signaled a directional shift soon reflected on the runway. Louis Vuitton’s Fall/Winter 2024 men’s show solidified the trend’s high-fashion status with embroidered tops, head-to-toe denim, bolo ties, and chaps. The impact was equally visible during the women’s presentations, where Chloé introduced fringed pants, Isabel Marant showcased studded leather, and Molly Goddard unveiled Western-style shirts, proof that Hadid’s wardrobe choices helped pave the way for the industry’s current obsession.

While Bella Hadid may have been among the first to go all-in on what TikTok dubs  “cowboycore,” she’s far from alone. In fact, celebrities across industries have also embraced Western fashion. From Beyoncé, who announced her pop-country album Cowboy Carter in early 2024, to Kim Kardashian flaunting in her head-to-toe suede ensemble, to  Miley Cyrus who showcased a rhinestone-studded denim vest and cowboy hat in a recent instagram post. Even Gigi Hadid has embraced the Western trend, effortlessly pairing a turquoise necklace with alligator boots—proving that Western-inspired fashion has firmly taken root in celebrity wardrobes.

In many ways, Bella Hadid’s Western-inspired pivot has helped shepherd a larger movement in fashion, bridging the gap between Western street style and runway spectacles. Perhaps the real question now is: will this Western wave remain a steadfast fixture in the fashion landscape, or will Hadid and the industry at large move on to the next frontier just as quickly as they arrived?