The streetwear brand’s AW25 event was a real Texas rodeo, not a fashion show, celebrating the Black roots of the American West
From Dior’s 2023 show at the Great Pyramids of Giza to Chanel’s 2016 resort show on the streets of Havana, Cuba, fashion brands have, over the years, travelled to far-flung locales to debut their new collections. In a landscape that’s becoming increasingly crowded, showcasing a new collection in an out-of-the-box manner is, after all, certainly one way to stand out. Aside from simply making headlines, though, an added benefit to creatively displaying a collection is the opportunity to make a statement about a brand’s ethos. In the case of streetwear brand SP5DER’s recent ‘Sweet Teeth Rodeo’ in Houston, Texas, it’s also a way to give back to its community.
On October 16, SP5DER, which is based in Los Angeles but has roots in the South, celebrated their latest collection by hosting a blowout rodeo at the Plaza Garibaldi in ‘H-Town’. While the brand’s riding and racing-inspired FW25 Sweet Tooth Collection was on display, the event was not a fashion show, but a true rodeo. Held in collaboration with the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, the country’s longest-running African-American touring rodeo, the event brought together families, locals and SP5DER fanatics for a night dedicated to honouring Black cowboy culture.
“Last year, we did a runway show in New York, and that was amazing,” said a SP5DER spokesperson. “Everyone came out, from press to celebrities to influencers. Then, we sat back as a brand and were like, the people who built this brand are actually the customers, and they didn't have access to that. So, we wanted to do something where we could give access to all the people who have built SP5DER to be what it is. And we thought, what better than a 4,000 person rodeo?”
And, a true rodeo it was. Under blazing cotton candy skies produced by the relentless Texas sun, attendees, dressed in a flurry of leather vests, bolo ties, and of course, plenty of cowboy boots, gathered around Plaza Garibaldi’s enormous dust bowl to get their eyes on the action. The night began with the competing riders, who included cowboys and cowgirls of all ages, walking down the dustbowl runway-style to display a first look at SP5DER’s AW25 designs.
“It’s a mix between race, rodeo and really giving credit to how those two have influenced fashion,” said a SP5DER spokesperson. “That’s how we got to the Sweet Tooth Rodeo, because we wanted people to see what these clothes look like in action.”
Luckily, there was plenty of action to go around. After ditching their sweatsuit-and-cowboy hat ensembles for custom SP5DER button down competition shirts, the riders-turned-models did what they do best, which is compete. Over the course of seven competitions, which included everything from bull riding to barrel racing to calf roping, the riders’ finesse were on full display. The competitions were meant to not only entertain, but also to pay homage to the legacy of Black people’s contributions to these traditions.
Our history has been clouded or has sometimes tried to be erased, but you cannot erase the truth. And so, what we are doing here is telling that truth
“Because of Beyoncé and her [recent] music, people have gotten on the Western kick, and everybody is now tuned into Western culture,” said Valeria Cunningham, President and CEO of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, whose riders were featured in the night’s competitions.
“We want to celebrate that culture, but we want people to understand the history of it. So that's what we’re trying to do; while we’re having fun, we’re also educating people so that they know about their own history, and how relevant Blacks were in the development of the West.”
Though often left out of media depictions of that time period, Black Americans, who tended to cattle and moved herds across the country, were indeed crucial in the West’s formation. Following the Civil War, the role of a cowboy was one of the few jobs available to Black men, and historians even estimate that one in four cowboys were Black.
This desire to educate people on Western culture’s Black roots was the motivation of Cunningham’s late husband, Lu Vason. After visiting a rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where there were no Black participants, and later learning that there were actually thousands of Black cowboys and cowgirls across the country, Vason was spurred to create an African American rodeo association of his own. He named it after Bill Pickett, who was a prominent Black cowboy during the development of the West and the first African-American man inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. “Everybody told him he was crazy, that it wouldn’t be successful,” said Cunningham. “Nobody would support it, and it didn’t deter him – he did it anyway.”
Decades later, BPIR is celebrating its 42nd anniversary, and if this recent partnership with SP5DER is any indication, thriving. It’s also fulfilling its founder’s dream through its nonprofit arm Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo Foundation, which offers scholarships, grants, and youth programming to underserved communities. To commemorate the collaboration, SP5DER is donating all proceeds from the Sweet Tooth rodeo to BPIRF.
Aside from showcasing new styles, SP5DER’s evening of fashion, sport and heritage proved that there cannot – and should not – be any way to ignore Black people’s influence on every aspect of American culture.
“I look at it this way,” Cunningham told me moments before the rodeo started. “Everything that happens in life started with us – let’s just be factual. Our history has been clouded or has sometimes tried to be erased, but you cannot erase the truth. And so, what we are doing here is telling that truth.”