Named for Hill County, Texas, the Hill buckle draws its character from a part of Texas where Western tradition meets the highway to high fashion.
Hill County is where DFW starts giving way to Central Texas. It sits on the I-35 corridor between Fort Worth and Waco, with Hillsboro about 55 miles south of Fort Worth and 35 miles north of Waco. Covering roughly 959 square miles, it still feels predominantly rural—farms, ranches, small towns and lake country—even as growth spills south from DFW.
That rural character runs deep. Established in 1853, Hill County was named for Dr. George Washington Hill, who served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas and as Secretary of War under Sam Houston. Its history grew from the blackland prairie—farming, ranching, and cattle—and in the 1870s, the Chisholm Trail crossed the northwestern corner of the county as Texas cattle moved north toward Kansas.
The Story of the Hill
Some designs have a way of coming back around.
As the story goes, in the 1990s, members of the Ralph Lauren design team made their way to Ingram, Texas, where they met with Roxie Orms at the original Clint Orms shop. They came looking for inspiration and hand-selected the Hill, purchasing several buckles with the intention of developing their own interpretation of the design.
The Hill was unmistakable then, and it still is today. Trading the traditional trophy buckle silhouette for an oversized, buckle-only shape, it is substantial without being ornate for ornament's sake: a design rooted in Western tradition that has always had a distinctly fashion-forward point of view.
More than three decades later, that silhouette is having another moment. Ralph Lauren is once again showing oversized, Western-inspired engraved buckles in its Collection line, including a belt priced around $1,000.
For Clint Orms, though, the Hill isn't a revival. We've been making it all along.
Hand engraved in Texas, the same way it was when those designers first walked through the doors of the Ingram shop, the Hill is a reminder that authentic Western design doesn't need to chase fashion. Sometimes, fashion finds its way back to the original.
Named for Hill County, Texas, the Hill buckle draws its character from a part of Texas where Western tradition meets the highway to high fashion.
Hill County is where DFW starts giving way to Central Texas. It sits on the I-35 corridor between Fort Worth and Waco, with Hillsboro about 55 miles south of Fort Worth and 35 miles north of Waco. Covering roughly 959 square miles, it still feels predominantly rural—farms, ranches, small towns and lake country—even as growth spills south from DFW.
That rural character runs deep. Established in 1853, Hill County was named for Dr. George Washington Hill, who served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas and as Secretary of War under Sam Houston. Its history grew from the blackland prairie—farming, ranching, and cattle—and in the 1870s, the Chisholm Trail crossed the northwestern corner of the county as Texas cattle moved north toward Kansas.
The Story of the Hill
Some designs have a way of coming back around.
As the story goes, in the 1990s, members of the Ralph Lauren design team made their way to Ingram, Texas, where they met with Roxie Orms at the original Clint Orms shop. They came looking for inspiration and hand-selected the Hill, purchasing several buckles with the intention of developing their own interpretation of the design.
The Hill was unmistakable then, and it still is today. Trading the traditional trophy buckle silhouette for an oversized, buckle-only shape, it is substantial without being ornate for ornament's sake: a design rooted in Western tradition that has always had a distinctly fashion-forward point of view.
More than three decades later, that silhouette is having another moment. Ralph Lauren is once again showing oversized, Western-inspired engraved buckles in its Collection line, including a belt priced around $1,000.
For Clint Orms, though, the Hill isn't a revival. We've been making it all along.
Hand engraved in Texas, the same way it was when those designers first walked through the doors of the Ingram shop, the Hill is a reminder that authentic Western design doesn't need to chase fashion. Sometimes, fashion finds its way back to the original.