ONCE UPON A COSMIC COWBOY

MOTHER INTRODUCES

ONCE UPON A COSMIC COWBOY

by Christina Perez

Somewhere in a far-off desert, a lone cowgirl sits by a campfire, her horse resting quietly nearby. The setting sun casts a purple glow; the first stars twinkle in the dusky light. Then, like a comet flashing fast and bright, a flying saucer appears in the night.

This is the story of Cosmic Cowboy, MOTHER’s Fall 2026 foray beyond the boundaries of space and time. It’s a place where pearl-covered snaps dance with psychedelic embroidery, wisps of fringe catch flashes of chrome, and bootcut jeans sparkle with enough moon dust to survive an encounter with beings from another world.

Depending on who you ask, the inspiration for this trippy tale came directly from a vintage pulp novel about cowboys and aliens discovered in a dusty desert shop. But like any good Western yarn, the truth is a little harder to discern. Perhaps the collection was inspired by a clandestine meeting with a real UFO; a peyote-fueled voyage through a black hole. Or perhaps it was something else altogether. The design team is cheekily tight-lipped about the collection’s true provenance. “Cowboys and jeans just go together hand in hand,” Co-founder and Creative Director Tim Kaeding says, adding only that MOTHER has never been shy about playing with the cosmic codes.

And anyway, blurring the line between fact and fiction is the whole point. To build a world that is both far-out and down-home, the design team immersed itself in references from every corner of the multiverse: iconic vintage Western ephemera, archival denim, rare typography and modern fashion editorials. On their mood board went an eclectic mix: images from campy 50s sci-fi B-movies and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Jane Fonda as Barbarella. Orville Peck in his veiled 10-gallon hats. Dolly Parton as the quintessential rhinestone cowgirl. Each reference was a thread that ultimately wove a layered tapestry of Cosmic Cowboy’s wild, wild world.

SHOP THE COLLECTION

MOTHER INTRODUCES

ONCE UPON A COSMIC COWBOY

by Christina Perez

Somewhere in a far-off desert, a lone cowgirl sits by a campfire, her horse resting quietly nearby. The setting sun casts a purple glow; the first stars twinkle in the dusky light. Then, like a comet flashing fast and bright, a flying saucer appears in the night.

This is the story of Cosmic Cowboy, MOTHER’s Fall 2026 foray beyond the boundaries of space and time. It’s a place where pearl-covered snaps dance with psychedelic embroidery, wisps of fringe catch flashes of chrome, and bootcut jeans sparkle with enough moon dust to survive an encounter with beings from another world.

Depending on who you ask, the inspiration for this trippy tale came directly from a vintage pulp novel about cowboys and aliens discovered in a dusty desert shop. But like any good Western yarn, the truth is a little harder to discern. Perhaps the collection was inspired by a clandestine meeting with a real UFO; a peyote-fueled voyage through a black hole. Or perhaps it was something else altogether. The design team is cheekily tight-lipped about the collection’s true provenance. “Cowboys and jeans just go together hand in hand,” Co-founder and Creative Director Tim Kaeding says, adding only that MOTHER has never been shy about playing with the cosmic codes.

And anyway, blurring the line between fact and fiction is the whole point. To build a world that is both far-out and down-home, the design team immersed itself in references from every corner of the multiverse: iconic vintage Western ephemera, archival denim, rare typography and modern fashion editorials. On their mood board went an eclectic mix: images from campy 50s sci-fi B-movies and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Jane Fonda as Barbarella. Orville Peck in his veiled 10-gallon hats. Dolly Parton as the quintessential rhinestone cowgirl. Each reference was a thread that ultimately wove a layered tapestry of Cosmic Cowboy’s wild, wild world.

SHOP THE COLLECTION

“WHEN WE START CONCEPTING, I START WEARING GOGGLES — IN THIS CASE, COSMIC COWBOY GOGGLES,”

reveals designer Hannah Franson. She says finding inspiration became the design team’s own visionary quest, and it required looking through a very specific lens: “Your eye starts picking out things that you might not have grabbed onto before.” An old motorcycle jacket might become the starting point for a leather-and-suede jacket spiked with tiny silver studs; faded vintage jeans might become the basis for denim washes that look bleached from hours spent riding horseback in the desert sun. Even rugby shirts can get rethought: if a cowgirl were beamed up by aliens, what would she be wearing when she finally came home?

Cosmic Cowboy provides the answer. The foundations are unmistakably Western, sure — bootcut jeans, pointed yokes, button-down shirts, chunky knits, and grass-grazing A-line skirts — but from the details, something new emerges. An easy-wearing palette of earthy browns, faded indigos and turquoise becomes a shimmering sea of silvers and rainbow brights. Embellishments and embroidery featuring stars, moons and radiant suns sparkle across T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and pants; fringed and braided denim strips line the edges of seams and hems.

It’s like someone dropped a space rock into an arroyo and the entire cosmos rippled out. For Kaeding, that's exactly what makes the collection so fun. “Things that are too obvious don’t have a nice twist,” he explains. “It’s not interesting.” In other words, a straightforward Western vibe would be predictable.

“WHEN WE START CONCEPTING, I START WEARING GOGGLES — IN THIS CASE, COSMIC COWBOY GOGGLES,”

reveals designer Hannah Franson. She says finding inspiration became the design team’s own visionary quest, and it required looking through a very specific lens: “Your eye starts picking out things that you might not have grabbed onto before.” An old motorcycle jacket might become the starting point for a leather-and-suede jacket spiked with tiny silver studs; faded vintage jeans might become the basis for denim washes that look bleached from hours spent riding horseback in the desert sun. Even rugby shirts can get rethought: if a cowgirl were beamed up by aliens, what would she be wearing when she finally came home?

Cosmic Cowboy provides the answer. The foundations are unmistakably Western, sure — bootcut jeans, pointed yokes, button-down shirts, chunky knits, and grass-grazing A-line skirts — but from the details, something new emerges. An easy-wearing palette of earthy browns, faded indigos and turquoise becomes a shimmering sea of silvers and rainbow brights. Embellishments and embroidery featuring stars, moons and radiant suns sparkle across T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and pants; fringed and braided denim strips line the edges of seams and hems.

It’s like someone dropped a space rock into an arroyo and the entire cosmos rippled out. For Kaeding, that's exactly what makes the collection so fun. “Things that are too obvious don’t have a nice twist,” he explains. “It’s not interesting.” In other words, a straightforward Western vibe would be predictable.

Thanks to an endless stream of out-of-this-world curveballs, Cosmic Cowboy is anything but. Each piece feels like something anyone would be thrilled to find in a top-secret thrift shop — one tucked into a dusty desert town, just like that old pulp novel about cowboys and aliens might have been. To wit: a cream-colored denim jacket covered in silver studs and celestial embroidery has the words “Cosmic Mother” in a retro font emblazoned across the back. A slim-cut pair of flared jeans is accented with a dramatic trail of fringe down the side — half rodeo queen, half intergalactic outlaw. A gauzy button-down is trimmed with the most delicate wisps of lace at the collar, placket and sleeve; yet another pair of jeans is covered with hand-placed crystals that form a glimmering constellation down the leg. The collector’s vibe feels intentional because it is: most of the artwork, plaids, prints, lettering and iconography were created entirely by hand in-house.

The attention to detail extends well beyond the clothes. For the campaign, MOTHER leaned into a space-age aesthetic, creating a longer-form film layered with eerie frequencies, sci-fi sound effects and otherworldly desert landscapes. When editing the film, Graphic Designer Gracy Watts, who grew up exploring the wide-open spaces of Texas, drew on her memories of this freedom mixed with mystery — the sense that anything, or anyone, might be waiting beyond the next ridge.

IN THE COSMIC COWBOY WORLD, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: GROUNDED IN AMERICANA BUT ALWAYS LOOKING TOWARD THE STARS. SOMEWHERE OUT THERE — BEYOND THE GLOW OF THE CAMPFIRE, BEYOND THE HORIZON — THE PORTAL IS ALWAYS OPEN, READY FOR YOU TO STEP INSIDE.

SHOP COSMIC COWBOY

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ONCE UPON A COSMIC COWBOY

by Christina Perez

ONCE UPON A COSMIC COWBOY

by Christina Perez

IN THE COSMIC COWBOY WORLD, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: GROUNDED IN AMERICANA BUT ALWAYS LOOKING TOWARD THE STARS. SOMEWHERE OUT THERE — BEYOND THE GLOW OF THE CAMPFIRE, BEYOND THE HORIZON — THE PORTAL IS ALWAYS OPEN, READY FOR YOU TO STEP INSIDE.

MOTHER’S HOME

WILDFLOWERS WRITTEN IN THE STARS: YOUR ZODIAC BLOOM GUIDE

MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME

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ONCE UPON A COSMIC COWBOY

by Christina Perez

ONCE UPON A COSMIC COWBOY

by Christina Perez

IN THE COSMIC COWBOY WORLD, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: GROUNDED IN AMERICANA BUT ALWAYS LOOKING TOWARD THE STARS. SOMEWHERE OUT THERE — BEYOND THE GLOW OF THE CAMPFIRE, BEYOND THE HORIZON — THE PORTAL IS ALWAYS OPEN, READY FOR YOU TO STEP INSIDE.

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