Nikki Reed Instagram – I’d like to think I sat on a horse before I learned how to walk. As I think back on my earliest memories, I vividly remember the smell of my grandmother’s barn. I collected duck eggs in rubber boots, mucked stalls holding rakes that towered over me, held bundles of hay like they were gold and climbed railings to feed my grandmother’s horses when no one was looking. All I wanted was to be around horses, to hear the sound of a carrot crunching, or the smell of alfalfa. And while it wasn’t always easy, my parents would make the long drive to her house on weekends so I could wrap my arms around a white Arabian horse who I loved with all my heart.
My grandmother was an artist and a horsewoman, and she would proudly claim those two titles above all else. She was a collector of Navajo jewelry, sheered her llamas and made the most beautiful scarves, and had fierce style that no one could replicate. Her nails were always painted, her signature turquoise rings on every finger, with lips that were a permanent shade of red even on the back of a horse. She was one of a kind, and I was enamored by her connection to New Mexico, her stories about Ghost Ranch and her wild spirit. She was a horsewoman through through, and while her training may have been in a more conservative way of riding and showing, her heart lived in the wild mountains of Taos, riding bareback in the moonlight with Georgia O’Keeffe. I’ve had dreams of what it would have been like to be there at that time, and I spent my formative years following in her footsteps, visiting those very mountains. This Western Collection embodies all of those things. It is a feeling, the very feeling my grandmother evoked when she rode through the mountains in her poncho with her long earrings and red lips. It is a place where legacy, luxury and craftsmanship live, riding through the mountains of Taos with her wild spirit on full display. At the heart of Bayou, we are a brand that creates heirloom pieces, that are meant to be passed down through generations. And while my grandmother’s rings live only in my memories, this collection was my way of recreating those moments so, in some small way, they can come to life again. | Posted on 16/Feb/2025 22:49:29
