Western clothing is currently trending, but for Lela Rose, it’s a perennial style: “I grew up in Texas, went to school in Colorado, and now spend a lot of time out in Wyoming. The west has always influenced me,” she says. On her phone are thousands of photos of ranch cowgirls from the 1940s and 1950s that she first started saving in 2012. (“That’s as far back as my phone goes,” Rose said, laughing.) And a year after opening the Lela Rose Ranch in Jackson, where the designer owns a home, she decided it was finally time to do a western-ish collection of her own.
There’s split skirts with concho details and buckskin fringes. Dresses come in paisley bandana prints. Shirts have intricate lace yokes. Several shirts come in floral prints that feel less like garden blooms and more like wildflowers. Rose ensures these don’t veer into cosplay territory by sticking with a muted palette: Most clothes are white or black, while a select few have accents of moody blues and reds. “It’s very sophisticated,” she said.
This is important. Rose’s brand (and its price point) attract what she describes as a “guest of” clientele—customers who are buying for special occasions. Her take on Westernwear, therefore, can’t solely be for laid-back home life on the range. Plus, there’s the geography to consider: Her brand is Manhattan-based. “They’re very refined. They’re things that can work in city settings but really have a kind of western feel to them in a cultured way,” Rose said of the collection. “It’s very much for that woman who does live a ‘guest of’ life—but she might be a guest of something in New York City, or she might be going out to a wedding in the west.” (This is more probable than one might think: Like Westernwear, country weddings are seeing a surge in popularity.)
Some items feel like they were meant for urban living more than others, like gowns with full skirts, for example, or sequined knits. Rose has embraced knits the last few seasons. “Our customer absolutely loves the knits. I think the reason is that they’re so comfortable, and we do them in a way that they’re so flattering,” she said. Will Lela Rose become a brand that’s just as rooted in Park Avenue as it is in Park City? As Rose lives more of her life in a Mountain time zone, it seems the aesthetic influence might be a permanent one.
