The Hollywood Reporter broke the news yesterday that Beyoncé and Adidas had “mutually agreed to part ways”.
“In 2018, Beyoncé entered a creative partnership with Adidas, where she relaunched her Ivy Park activewear line and also developed new footwear and apparel for the brand.
But there has apparently been major creative differences between Ivy Park and Adidas, and Beyoncé is excitedly looking to reclaim her brand, chart her own path and maintain creative freedom.”
Adidas has been struggling, especially after the Kanye debacle, so this wasn’t that much of a surprise. Beyoncé stays winning, and everyone associated with her stays winning. Adidas clearly isn’t keeping up.
So …what next?
The answer is couture.
RENAISSANCE COUTURE.
Flip to the second slide.
This is a 16-piece collection connected to the tracks on the album. And as you can see, the looks 100% match the energy of RENAISSANCE. Now, with the tour kicking off later this year, Beyoncé just set another level to what we can expect visually. And what she might be expecting visually, because I’m seeing reaction on social media with people all like, oh f-ck, I have to change my concert outfit, LOL.
Let’s go back to this fashion pivot, though. From Adidas to Balmain, a French fashion house. And note the caption on her Instagram post below. Beyoncé rarely posts captions. When she does have something to say, though, she has SOMETHING TO SAY:
This works on so many levels. Beyoncé creates space and lifts up everyone around her. That’s the message here. But it’s also a flex. Because, well, it’s an honour to be lit up next to her, too. She knows her power. She also knows the power of a caption, since she doesn’t do them all that often. There is pride in these words. She knows this collection meets the standard she set with RENAISSANCE. And now she’s going to take it on tour?
Like maybe not onstage…but now the question is when we’ll see these pieces out in the world. There are some big events coming up. Who’ll wear Beyoncé first? The Met Gala is in six weeks.
