If there's anyone you can count on to leave you stunned with every move (and every look), it's Beyoncé. Just days after the musical powerhouse dropped her highly-anticipated album Cowboy Carter, she received even more flowers at last night's iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles. The superstar accepted the Innovator Award from fellow legend Stevie Wonder, who played the harmonica on her "Jolene" cover. As if the moment wasn't already historic enough, the icon showcased her edgiest cowboy core look to date.
In true Beyoncé fashion, she commanded the room in an all-black leather ensemble from Versace's Fall 1992 collection. The archival moment included a plunging fringe shirt and matching trousers adorned with gold hardware brilliantly accented by two studded belts and heeled boots. She then topped off the look with a classic cowboy hat decorated with the Italian fashion house's signature Medusa logo.
While on stage Beyoncé paid tribute to her own music hero. "I'm honored to receive this recognition from you, Stevie Wonder. Whenever anyone asks me if there's anyone I can listen to for the rest of my life, it's always you." Wonder responded with "I want to thank you for motivating the world to be a better place."
"Being an innovator often means being criticized, which will often test your mental strength. My hope is that we are more open to the joy and liberation that comes from enjoying art with no preconceived notions," adds Beyoncé. And we're definitely enjoying the art that the "Bodyguard" singer's rebirth has produced.
Bey's latest accolade and that look further cement her evolution into country music and the style that comes with it. She first introduced her new Western-style era while promoting Renaissance in 2022, often donning mirrored cowboy hats in promotional tour images thereby influencing a whole new sartorial movement of disco pieces and frontier clothing.
She revived this aesthetic at the Grammys in February in a Louis Vuitton leather studded skirt suit and Stetson hat. She quickly followed up with a multitude of Western-inspired outfits, including a metallic lingerie two-piece set and black cowboy hat on the cover of "Texas Hold 'Em," a silver, Gaurav Gupta haute couture blazer dress with bedazzled boots and a cowboy hat during Luar's New York Fashion Week show and a red, white and blue Busted latex ensemble and Paris Texas boots for the new album's cover.
