Saddle Up, Because Beyoncé Is Taking Ivy Park to the Rodeo

You can take the girl out of Texas, but she’ll always find her way back to the rodeo; that’s the clear message behind Beyoncé’s next collection for Ivy Park x Adidas. As we reported earlier this week, the entertainer-entrepreneur teased the label’s next release, due to drop on August 19, with an unexpected campaign model, enlisting beloved veteran actor and horse enthusiast Glynn Turman to model a denim and decidedly Western riff on the iconic Adidas track suit, accessorized with a cowboy hat and horses as Turman kicked up dust with a denim chaps-clad, horse-riding model.

A full trailer dropped Friday morning proved that was only the tip of the haystack—and the “Yee-Haw Agenda” is far from over. In the nearly two-minute clip, Beyoncé and a slew of models and dancers enter the corral, reminding us that many of America’s earliest cowboys and cowgirls were Black.

The athleisure is there; so are denim, carousel horses, and lassos (marking the return of Beyoncé’s famed Formation tour braid-as-a-whip). In addition to Turman, fellow Houston native and Nigerian-American rapper and singer Toby Nwigwe makes an appearance, as does the ever-enigmatic Snoh Aalegra, cementing a relationship with the brand first noticed last year when Bey sent the Swedish singer selections from several seasons’ drops.

The clip is evocative (as are most things Beyoncé-related), but we couldn’t help but notice a few missed opportunities in this posse—was Lil Nas X busy? And where was the cast of The Harder They Fall? (Regina, Idris and ‘nem could’ve killed these ‘fits). More importantly, will the collection sell? A Black Western is something we can’t wait to see onscreen, but are we really craving a denim tracksuit and chaps for fall 2021?

Perhaps we should look no further than Bey’s collaborator and fellow Houstonian Megan Thee Stallion for the answer. After all, the rapper also drew upon the cowboy legacy for her first drop with Fashion Nova last fall, giving us “wild Western moto speed chase” realness with a heavy dose of saloon chic. With Beyoncé’s endorsement, maybe we should strap on our chaps and saddle up…because the Yee-Haw agenda isn’t riding off into the sunset anytime soon.