Austin-based Tecovas wants to outlast the internet's obsession with western wear.

Why it matters: Boots, denim and fringe are no longer just for cowboys.

• Vogue and GQ call western wear 2024's defining trend, and you don't have to scroll far to find influencers showing off their new boots.

Driving the news: Tecovas' vice president of brand marketing, Samantha Fodrowski, spoke at Axios House during South by Southwest about the company's strategy to balance trends and its growing footprint.

What they're saying: "We're all throughout Texas now, but we're also in places you might not expect to see a western brand" — like Boston, California and Philadelphia, she told Axios. "We're able to ride this wave. It's certainly not a bad thing."

Zoom in: Tecovas opened its first retail store on South Congress in 2019, offering boots generally priced lower than other traditional retailers because of their direct-to-consumer model.

• South Congress has become a boot epicenter, with longtime boot shop Allens Boots, Heritage Boot Co. and Lucchese Boot Company.

Yes, but: Fodrowski said the bootmaker "doesn't see Western as a trend," and notes that they're the "newbie" in a craft that's been around for many years.

• "We're so respectful of the craft and the brands that have been around for as long as they have," she said.

The big picture: Tecovas rapidly expanded in recent years, opening 11 new stores in 2024.

• The boot brand now has 42 brick-and-mortar locations across the country and recently announced its move into the wholesale market.
• "We really look at where people are already searching for us, where they're buying us online," Fodrowski said, adding the company is "very selective about where we're putting stores."

What's next: Tecovas plans to open 12 more this summer, including its first store in New York City, according to Fodrowski.

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Spring is getting warmer overall and featuring more unusually hot days in most U.S. cities, including Austin, a new analysis finds.

Case in point: Temperatures today could reach the low 90s. The historically normal high for March 13 is 72, per National Weather Service data.

Why it matters: Warmer springs can heighten wildfire risks and worsen allergies, among other effects.

How it works: Nonprofit climate research and communications organization Climate Central examined 55 years of U.S. temperature data for 241 cities, and found that the meteorological spring season of March through May has warmed by a national average of 2.4 degrees.

• In an analysis released last month, the group found that 97% of the 241 cities analyzed saw a warming trend for the season.

Zoom in: Austin saw an increase of 3.6 degrees since 1970, and now has 20 more spring days with temperatures above normal, per Climate Central.

The big picture: The spring warming in the U.S. is taking place in tandem with increasing temperatures around the world due to human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

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Police say the InfoWars writer who was shot and killed in South Austin had interrupted suspects possibly burglarizing his car. (Fox 7 Austin)

🏢 Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has canceled the federal agency leases for an ICE enforcement center in Austin and a Natural Resources Conservation Service building in Temple. (Austin Business Journal 🔒)

💰 SpaceX will get a $17 million state grant as the company embarks on a $280 million expansion in Bastrop. (KXAN)

🦢 Quote du jour

"Birds are very alert; they are aware of any movement. They are animals of sight and sound, which is the same for humans, with comparatively weak senses of smell. Watching them, we become more alert. We notice everything: the shape of clouds, a change of wind, drops of water that become more like prisms. It gives us a different life."

Here's what's on tap on Day 7 of South by Southwest.

🍿 Catch "On Swift Horses" from director Daniel Minahan at the Paramount Theatre at 7pm.

📱 Listen to a discussion about AI's advancements — and possible pitfalls — at "Our AI-Driven World: A Utopian Dream or Dystopian Nightmare?" 11:30am-12:30pm at Hilton Austin.

💻 Understand the future of quantum programming with Horizon Quantum's Joe Fitzsimons 1-2pm in the convention center.

🔌 Hear from early adopter cities in EV charging, including Austin Energy's Cameron Freburg, 10-11am in the Hilton Austin.

🎶 Kick off Paste Party, three days of music from Paste Magazine, at High Noon, noon-7pm.

Peep a total lunar eclipse late tonight and early tomorrow.

Why it matters: It'll be the first total lunar eclipse since 2022 — and the only one visible from the U.S. this year.

• North America and South America are expected to get the best views of the eclipse, but it'll be visible around the globe in the Western Hemisphere.

Zoom in: The partial eclipse begins just after midnight. Totality begins around 1:30am.

🩸 The intrigue: A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into Earth's shadow.

• They're sometimes called "Blood Moons" because the Moon will appear to turn reddish.

How to watch.