July 2025
The Cowboy Carter Tour Book
The Making of Beyoncé’s Golden Cowboy Hat for the Cowboy Carter Tour Book:
There are some projects that feel like lightning in a bottle, and this one might just be made of gold.
When Beyoncé’s team at Parkwood reached out about a look for the Cowboy Carter Tour Art Book, we knew right away this wouldn’t be your average cowboy hat. The creative direction called for something monumental: oversized, futuristic, golden, and iconic. A hat that could sit on the head of Queen Bey riding a golden bull and still be the most powerful thing in the image.
And so, the golden vacuum-formed cowboy hat was born.
We began with many different prototypes of the cowboy hat. We needed something that could be vacuum formed to create that crisp, exaggerated silhouette. We partnered with Prop Masters in Burbank (shoutout to Henry!) who specialize in custom mold-making and fabrication for film and entertainment. Using our cowboy hat block, they vacuum-formed the cowboy hat into a rigid, sculptural form that was already giving high fashion meets space-age Western.
But the form was just the beginning.
Once the shell was created, it was returned to our studio where we hand-bent and shaped it to refine the brim's movement and angle. Sculpting plastic isn’t like working with felt or straw, this was a dance of pressure, heat, and intuition. We had to preserve the integrity of the form while still making it feel wearable and expressive. There’s no blueprint for this. You just... make it work. A heat gun was our best friend.
Once the shape was finalized, we collaborated with Studio Art and Technology, who specialize in chrome painting - the process that gives a surface its mirror-like, metallic finish. They coated the hat in a luminous, true gold chrome, transforming it from raw material into something worthy of myth. It is surprisingly difficult to paint anything chrome, but we were so happy with the result. It was glowing. Reflective. Larger than life. Beyoncé-worthy.
Back in our hands, we added the final flourishes. Interior elastic and soft foam padding were installed to make the piece stable and comfortable enough to wear, even at such a dramatic size. Every inch of this hat was considered inside and out. It had to stay secure, sparkle under lights, and hold its shape on top of a golden bull, no less.
When the Cowboy Carter Art Book images dropped, we gasped. There she was: Beyoncé in a head-to-toe gold look, styled by the incomparable Shiona Turini, seated on a golden bull against a stark black backdrop, wearing the hat.
It’s the kind of image that feels instantly iconic. Part goddess, part outlaw, part sci-fi vision, all Beyoncé.
For us, the hat is more than just a sculptural accessory. It’s a symbol of craftsmanship, collaboration, and creative risk-taking. It’s what happens when couture millinery meets spectacle. And it’s an honor to create pieces like this for an artist who continually redefines what’s possible.
The Making of Beyoncé’s Golden Cowboy Hat for the Cowboy Carter Tour Book:
There are some projects that feel like lightning in a bottle, and this one might just be made of gold.
When Beyoncé’s team at Parkwood reached out about a look for the Cowboy Carter Tour Art Book, we knew right away this wouldn’t be your average cowboy hat. The creative direction called for something monumental: oversized, futuristic, golden, and iconic. A hat that could sit on the head of Queen Bey riding a golden bull and still be the most powerful thing in the image.
And so, the golden vacuum-formed cowboy hat was born.
We began with many different prototypes of the cowboy hat. We needed something that could be vacuum formed to create that crisp, exaggerated silhouette. We partnered with Prop Masters in Burbank (shoutout to Henry!) who specialize in custom mold-making and fabrication for film and entertainment. Using our cowboy hat block, they vacuum-formed the cowboy hat into a rigid, sculptural form that was already giving high fashion meets space-age Western.
But the form was just the beginning.
Once the shell was created, it was returned to our studio where we hand-bent and shaped it to refine the brim's movement and angle. Sculpting plastic isn’t like working with felt or straw, this was a dance of pressure, heat, and intuition. We had to preserve the integrity of the form while still making it feel wearable and expressive. There’s no blueprint for this. You just... make it work. A heat gun was our best friend.
Once the shape was finalized, we collaborated with Studio Art and Technology, who specialize in chrome painting - the process that gives a surface its mirror-like, metallic finish. They coated the hat in a luminous, true gold chrome, transforming it from raw material into something worthy of myth. It is surprisingly difficult to paint anything chrome, but we were so happy with the result. It was glowing. Reflective. Larger than life. Beyoncé-worthy.
Back in our hands, we added the final flourishes. Interior elastic and soft foam padding were installed to make the piece stable and comfortable enough to wear, even at such a dramatic size. Every inch of this hat was considered inside and out. It had to stay secure, sparkle under lights, and hold its shape on top of a golden bull, no less.
When the Cowboy Carter Art Book images dropped, we gasped. There she was: Beyoncé in a head-to-toe gold look, styled by the incomparable Shiona Turini, seated on a golden bull against a stark black backdrop, wearing the hat.
It’s the kind of image that feels instantly iconic. Part goddess, part outlaw, part sci-fi vision, all Beyoncé.
For us, the hat is more than just a sculptural accessory. It’s a symbol of craftsmanship, collaboration, and creative risk-taking. It’s what happens when couture millinery meets spectacle. And it’s an honor to create pieces like this for an artist who continually redefines what’s possible.
