Lil Nas X Hits Fashion Week With Coach and His Favorite Stuffed Animal

“It feels pretty cool,” Grammy-winning musician Lil Nas X said of attending New York Fashion Week for the first time ever. “I’ve never been able to go in the past because my schedule didn’t line up.”

Despite his rookie status, Lil Nas X is taking to NYFW with ease. On Monday, he made his runway debut for Coach, walking in the label’s spring 2023 show. His appearance, for which he donned Rick James–esque braids, a distressed vest, shorts, and jelly sandals, was a standout moment of the leather-heavy show. (It feels like a natural progression for a brand that collaborated with the queer leather bar the Eagle this summer.) In a testament to his naturalistic showmanship, Lil Nas X was not intimidated. “I actually wasn’t that nervous to walk in the show,” he said. “Compared to live performances—singing and dancing and everything—this wasn’t too nerve-racking.”

The appearance came only a few days after he performed the first show for his ongoing Montero world tour, in which he wears custom Coach looks. They included a leather-fied take on the denim cowboy suit, with straps and buckles galore. There was also a crop paired with sequined low-rise trousers that subtly featured metallic shades of pink and green and aligned with the concert’s butterfly theme. “The tour has been so effing fun!” said Lil Nas X. “I love seeing and meeting all the fans, and showing them everything I’ve been working so hard on to give them the best show of all time.”

He said he is a big fan of the tributes to American style that creative director Stuart Vevers has delivered: “I think Coach and I stand for a lot of the same things—self-expression, innovation, and rewriting the rules in fashion. I also love them because they really believe in me and they’ve made so many amazing outfits for me and for my tour.”

It feels exciting to see an American heritage brand like Coach partner with one of the most exciting new voices in pop culture. And the Lil Nas X x Coach looks will surely keep coming; the rapper is now an ambassador for the brand.

As soon as the Coach runway wrapped, Lil Nas X had to rush off to the Replica Handbag Store World runway event and fashion fair, where he performed his hit song “Industry Baby” in yet another custom Coach look that featured a metallic midriff-baring tank and baggy space-age trousers. His date for the big night? Slush the husky, a stuffed animal.

Below, check out behind-the-scenes photos of Lil Nas X’s runway debut at Coach and his performance at Replica Handbag Store World.