Meet the Tailor Who Made It

It was impossible to miss Kid Rock in the White House on Monday. And not just because, you know, Kid Rock was standing in the seat of power, the Oval Office, next to the President at the Resolute Desk as Trump signed an executive order limiting concert-ticket scalping. Rather, the man born Bob Ritchie turned heads because of his loud and patriotically proud track suit, a shirt-and-pants combo bedazzled with a pair of eagles, an American flag, and a whole lot of rhinestones. How many?

“Hundreds, and not even a half inch apart,” says Ofelia Vasquez, the wife of legendary Western wear designer Manuel Cuevas. Together, the husband and wife of six years created the suit for Kid Rock, who called the 91-year-old Manuel — the designer goes by his first name — about a month ago to commission a uniform that would celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America. Hence, the red-white-and-blue “250” above Rock’s left hip.

“It was an urgent order, and we only had three weeks to make it,” Vasquez tells Rolling Stone. “So, we went to Kid Rock’s house to measure him. He called out what he wanted, and then we came back to the studio and got to work on that project.”

While Kid Rock provided his requests — “iconic” motifs that represent “independence,” Ofelia says —  Manuel, who studied under the pioneering “rodeo tailor” Nudie Cohn, was the primary designer. Once he settled on the vision, he turned the suit over to his wife to make it pop. “Manuel was designing everything. He asked me what I’d think about this, what do you think about the flag, and then he gave me the embroidery,” she says. “It’s a very special suit.”

And the most patriotic of you all can own one too: Simply make an appointment with Manuel’s studio near Nashville, get measured, and be prepared to spend.

“I don’t even remember how much it cost, because we were working on some other pieces for him, like a black suit,” Ofelia says. “But it was more than $20,000.”