When Whitney Lloyd, an AQHA amateur rider, got back into the saddle after a 14-year hiatus, it wasn’t the competition or the dynamics of the circuit that changed. It was the jeans.
“Jeans are the most essential garment for cowgirls. It’s what the wear every day, ride in, compete in—it’s a very important garment but you still want to look on trend,” she said.
However, Lloyd found that the new jean styles from major western brands weren’t cutting it. “Quite frankly, I just found that all of them had major issues. None of them really fit and functioned and flattered in the saddle, which is the most important place for a horse girl. We want to look good there. We want to feel confident and feel supported by what we’re wearing. And they all the jeans that were out there just really missed the mark,” she said.
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In 2022, Lloyd turned her frustration into a business plan to develop her own brand of saddle-tested jeans for fellow cowgirls. The Columbus, Ohio-based denim novice turned to Christine Rucci, denim expert and founder of Godmother NYC, Inc., initially for pointers and then for full-package support from fit and fabrics to setting up a U.S. supply chain. Lloyd said she felt confident that Rucci “would be the person who would get this done for me and kind of make these jeans a reality.”
Now, almost three years later, MarkWest Denim is preparing to enter the western denim market with a single style that attests to Lloyd’s confidence what she and Rucci produced: a women’s stretch denim jean made from Cone Denim’s Parras, Mexico mill, manufactured in Los Angeles and washed by SFI in Commerce, Calif.
The jean features a hidden cellphone pocket that won’t interfere with the saddle, a gap-free waistband, pant legs that stack nicely above boots and won’t ride up won’t twist around boots and a construction that eliminates the traditional front center seam—an uncomfortable detail that Lloyd said female riders have learned to accept. “I thought there’s has to be a better way,” she said.
With her saddle in her living room, Lloyd and Rucci would meet over Zoom to review prototypes. Six were made in one fabric until they realized they needed one with more stretch because the post-ride recovery wasn’t up to their standard.
“We’re the only people doing a sport in blue jeans. We need fabrics that have enough stretch and can maintain its shape throughout the day,” Lloyd said. “We spent a lot of time on little things like the rivets which are smooth domed rivets, so that they don’t, scratch your saddle when you’re carrying it on your hip. They won’t snag your delicate show clothes that people compete in. All those little details we spent a lot of time on to make sure that they’re really functional for our cowgirl customer.”
Making the jeans in the U.S. was a priority as well. “For a western audience, and the horse industry in particular, there’s a lot of value on the tradition of the American West, the American cowboy and high-quality products that are made here in America,” she said. Though the fabric is made in Mexico, Lloyd said she’s proud to partner with a mill like Cone which has a long legacy in the U.S.
MarkWest will launch this month. The jeans will be available in sizes 00-18 and retail for $209.
Lloyd has rolled out an aggressive social media strategy to share what MarkWest Denim is all about. She’s also relying on the connections she’s made over the years as an active member of the Quarter Horse circuit.
“It’s been very organic. The horse community is a very old school community in that relies on word of mouth. People pay attention to what people they know and trust in the industry are using,” she said. “I think consumers recognize that there’s a real need for jeans for cowgirls that are actually made by a fellow cowgirl who gets it and understands what we experience in the saddle.”
