Hollywood
Beyoncé collaborates with Balmain for a ‘Renaissance’ clothing collection
Beyoncé takes on haute couture with a 17-outfit collection in collaboration with Balmain
Beyoncé brings her latest album ‘Renaissance’ to life with a stunning 17-outfit collection with Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing. On Friday, March 24 the Grammy award-winning singer unveiled the collection by wearing one of the pieces on the cover of Vogue France.
According to Vogue, the Creative Director for Balmain, Olivier Rousteing was so inspired by Beyoncé's latest album that he couldn’t stop listening to it while he sketched potential designs for future collections. Eventually, he had the idea to reach out to Beyoncé personally in hopes of bringing her on board as a codesigner.
‘Renaissance’ inspiration
“I was sketching and sketching as I listened, and sometimes you can’t control the emotion of your sketch,” he said to Vogue in an interview.
“And I started to imagine the sketches inside her album, how they would relate to the songs and the lyrics—it wasn’t something I was supposed to be doing but I was just inspired by the music to do it. And that’s how this started.”
The duo took five months to bring the collection to life, beginning with 50 looks and bringing the total looks down to just 17. The idea was that they would have one look for each song from the album.
The unveiling of the looks
While the official collaboration was unveiled today with the release of the April 2023 edition, Beyoncé has worn two of the looks from the collection already. On the night of the 2023 Grammys, Beyonce posed in the sign dedicated to ‘Virgo’s Groove’ from the album.
The singer also went on to make history that night by becoming the most decorated Grammy Award winner in history. Later, on the night of the Brit Awards, the singer showcased the look made for the song ‘Pure/Honey, from the album.
Retiring of Ivy Park
The news of the collection comes just a day after Beyoncé reportedly cut ties with Adidas in a mutual decision. The brand had been collaborating with the singer since 2018 to produce the ‘Ivy Park’ collection, which Beyoncé had been designing.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in February the sales of ‘Ivy Park’ had plummeted more than 50 percent, leading to a loss of around $20 million in annual compensation for both Adidas and Beyoncé.