BOLO TIES. Growing up on the Navajo Nation, Samantha Platero always admired her grandfather Ramon’s bolo ties. “He’d put one on to go into town,” she remembers. “He looked so cool.” The jewelry designer comes from a long line of silversmiths who taught her the trade. But her New Mexico–based Dineh Jewelry brand also draws heavily on her years spent working for goldsmiths in Europe. “I saw fine-jewelry makers putting Native designs in contemporary styles,” she says. “I thought, Why can’t we do this?” Platero marries traditional pieces with a modern vision, including delicate chain necklaces with squash-blossom pendants and fresh takes on classic bolos (one is called the Ramon). Her latest collection accents braided-leather ties with playful smiley- or frowny-face slides made from silver, turquoise, and onyx. “The smiley faces always make people smile,” she says. “Actually, the frowns do too!”
HAT CLIPS. “If you’re spending $1,000 on a hat, the last thing you want is to poke a hole in it,” says Rebekah Chamberlin, owner of the Winged Heart Studio. Instead, the Santa Fe–based designer uses magnets to secure her sterling-silver-and-turquoise bows, rosettes, and feather hat accessories. “Clips are a great way to personalize your hat and step out of the box,” she says. Her whimsical handmade clips, ranch-brand necklaces, and chunky rings are Southwest-inspired (“If there’s a color to my soul, it’s turquoise,” Chamberlin says) but also draw inspiration from mainstream trends, such as the TikTok bow craze. “I want to create pieces that are casual but elevated,” she says, “and something my customers haven’t quite seen before.”
BANDANAS AND SLIDES. Bianca Shannon does more than dress the part of cowgirl. The Italy-born designer worked as a horse wrangler on a Cerrillos ranch for years before founding Kit Santa Fe, an Americana- and equestrian-inspired accessories line. “Most of the Western wear I saw for women was bedazzled and bright,” she says. Her quest for something a bit more chic led to her Wild Rags line of 100 percent silk bandanas featuring original artwork (horses, horseshoes, Pegasuses) in rich earth tones. “They bring more style to that classic cowboy look,” she says. “But silk is the strongest fabric out there, so you can still wear them riding.” Hold them in place with one of Kit’s horse-head slides, cast in Albuquerque out of bronze and silver.