Western takeover of the Barras Market

The famous wall of boots at Cowpeople in the

Western wear is on the rise and tucked away in the Barras market is an amazing little gem that feels like a portal to the American west. Cowpeople is a western wear store in the beating heart of Glasgow founded by Kaitlyn DeBiasse a New Jersey native who moved to Glasgow a decade ago. 

Cowpeople originally opened as a stall in the Barras market two years ago now and has been gaining traction since. 

DeBiasse said: “The idea was just to do it in a small way, just have a small stand at the market, have some belt buckles and share this hobby of mine to collect things from all parts of the American west. 

“Then it got on steroids because my idea happened to align with when social media went cowboy crazy.” 

Debiasse is the only western wear trader in Scotland which makes her the pinnacle of the industry locally. 

DeBiasse Said: “We have the only western wear shop in Scotland which is strange to have a monopoly of any kind of business in an entire country is quite unheard of these days. 

“it's all just been an unfolding adventure. 

“I never thought I was going to relocate to Scotland and stay here for this amount of time. 

“The years move fast and slow obviously we had the pandemic and that created a lot of inner change in people because it was a brush with mortality a lot of creative industries closed, and people had to make money in new ways.” 

There is a plethora of reasons for the recent rising trend of western wear across the world, one of the most influential is the number of celebrities such as Pharrell or Beyonce who have begun to align themselves with a more cowboy style.  

Cowboy mania didn't stop there as a lot of tv shows and popular movies also featured western wear even if it wasn't in the most traditional wild west manner for example the Barbie movie, Yellowstone and its spinoffs. 

DeBiasse said: “I remember sitting watching the Barbie movie and there was an unusual number of cowboys in it, and I was like oh gosh is this coming for me. 

“Then it did, Beyonce announced she was going to make her very first country album.  

“All these country musicians started touring the UK for the first time. 

“Pharrell did this collection with Louis Vuitton that just had all this amazing kind of western wear collection featuring black cowboys which was amazing. 

“Everyone doubled down on everything cowboy and it even became the uniform for gigs.” 

The overall rise of western ware isn't the only reason that Cowpeople has taken off, Debiasse is a qualified designer and has previously worked as a lecturer at Glasgow school of Art. 

 Debiasse's creative eye shows in the colourful and homey design of the shop it feels very welcoming, and you can tell as soon as you step in the door that it's an inclusive place that's been designed as a passion project. 

Debiasse said: “The ultimate pleasure about being in western wear is that it's very intersectional meaning it's for everyone. 

“People from different political backgrounds, different ages, different gender identities, loads of people that have nothing in common accept they think cowboy stuff is cool. 

An old man can pick up a belt buckle and think it's cool and then at the same time a young queer person who is just figuring out their fashion identity can pick up the same belt buckle and appreciate it just as much.” 

DeBiasse and the team at the cow people are on an upward trajectory and show no sign of slowing down frequently collaborating local brands like Irn Bru and other creatives. 

DeBiasse said: “We are always up for teaming up with people and we have a bunch of different stuff on the horizon. We have a brand that's going to shoot a music video in the shop soon. 

“We've got a lot of ideas there's always new people popping up. 

“Irn Bru approached us. 

“We just recently with Rafa which is a taco place in the west end there also all America. 

“We like teaming up with different types of people to reach niche audiences and we like playing into this fusion of American style mixed with Scottish style.

Tracksuits and cowboy boots it's that integration that's interesting to me.” 

Debiasse is lucky enough to be one of the people that gets to see how fashion can bring people together firsthand. 

Debaisse said: “Someone from Scotland who hasn't owned a pair of boots before, or a Stetson and we get to share that moment with them. 

“it's a joy.”