We caught up with the 24-year-old Philadelphia Etsy designer behind Beyoncé's viral disco cowboy hat
Published in Fashion Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — It turns out that a viral disco ball-style cowboy hat that Beyoncé wore in her Renaissance tour announcement has Philadelphia roots.
A photo announcing the tour dates, including a Philly show at Lincoln Financial Field, was posted featuring a photo of Queen Bey clad in a mirror-tiled cowboy hat and matching outfit as she rides a sparkly disco horse.
But while most fans who saw the photo were freaking out about the tour, Abby Misbin and her friends were focused on the singer’s outfit.
Misbin, 24, of Fairmount, is the owner of Trending By Abby, a cowboy hat decorating Etsy shop that has gained a customer base in outfitting bachelorette parties, birthday bashes and college football tailgates. It was her hat that donned Beyoncé's head.
In early June, Misbin said Bea Åkerlund — one of Beyoncé's stylists — contacted her on Etsy to purchase one of her top sellers: a cowboy hat covered in mirror tiles. It would be a quick turnaround, but Åkerlund said it was for Bey herself.
“It didn’t sound real to me at first,” Misbin told the Inquirer during a phone interview, which she took while working on fulfilling hat orders. “I figured it was a scam, but I got paid so there wasn’t a risk. She was very specific about what she wanted the hat to look like. I offer crystal trim and lights. They didn’t want any of that — they had a vision.”
Recruiting the BeyHive
Months had gone by and while Misbin and her friends and family knew she had maybe, possibly, outfitted Beyoncé, it wasn’t clear if the rest of the world would ever find out.
In August, the music video teaser for Beyoncé's song, "I’m That Girl," dropped. It featured a short snippet of Bey wearing Misbin’s creation. The only problem? No one knew Misbin was responsible.
“I don’t think people believed me,” she recalled. “I had to tell them it was mine.”
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