The year of yeehaw continues with the anticipated release of Lil Nas X’s “official movie” for the “Old Town Road” remix. The new visual for the record-breaking country rap song does not disappoint, with all-star cameos from Chris Rock, Vince Staples, Diplo, Rico Nasty, and Mr. Achy Breaky himself, Billy Ray Cyrus.
In the video, we see Lil Nas X brings his country sensibilities from 1889 to 2019, after the cowboy on the run gets transported to modern day. We see him race a sports car on his horse, line dance, but most importantly trade his dusty old western gear for a fresh cowboy getup (is that hat Gucci?). Clearly, the 20-year-old artist isn’t just shaking up what we think of as country music, but also country style.
While cowboy fashion has been all over the runway from Telfar to Pyer Moss and the red carpet, these urban cowboys aren’t wearing your average Wranglers. Billy Ray rocks a bright pink fringe-covered set, while Stylist Cathy Hahn put Lil Nas X in an embroidered, Nudie-style black suit by Union Western Clothing. The Indiana-based clothing company founded by tailor Jerry Lee Atwood and Joe David Walters has been making Western wear since 2012.
“The Lil Nas X suit is a spin on the classic two-piece parade suit,” Walters said of the custom look. “These suits were originally made for people riding in big events like the Rose Parade. They had to really stand out and shine so that the people way in the back would take notice.”
According to Walters the suit took four people about 100 hours to make. The style was inspired by rodeo tailors like Rodeo Ben and Nathan Turk, who took Western wear to the next level and paved the way for the flashy looks by Nudie Cohn.
To personalize this look for Lil Nas X, Walters said they took inspiration from the album art for his singles and his love for Red Dead Redemption.
It’s clear the megahit, which is going into its seventh week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the cowboy style aren’t going away anytime soon, so put on your hat and boots and join the yeehaw agenda.