Fashion Trend for 2014: Country Couture on the RiseCountry music's crossover appeal is spurring interest in western apparel.
ByJason Ankeny•
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Fashion
Cowpoke couture is back in the saddle again. A new generation of consumers is embracing western-style snap shirts, cowboy hats, boots and accessories, a trend inspired by the crossover success of bestselling country and Americana performers such as Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers, as well as prime-time TV hits like Nashville and Justified.
"Over the last two years, we've had an increase in sales, and we're getting a lot more new customers who've never been in our store before," says Richard Alcala, president of Alcala's Western Wear, a 41-year-old family-owned retailer in Chicago's trendy West Town neighborhood. "It seems to revolve around country music and concerts--when there's a big show coming into town, we see a big spike in sales."
