Renaissance in Couture

In July 2022, Beyoncé released her seventh solo album Renaissance. Since then I can’t stop listening the album. Like me and many others, the creative director of Balmain Oliver Rousteing can not stop listening the tracks on the Renaissance. In the summer of 2022 Rousteing was enchanted by the songs on Renaissance and he felt the urge to create. “I was sketching and sketching as I listened, and sometimes you can’t control the emotion of your sketch. 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.” Rousteing thought this can be a special project and he approached to Beyoncé and her main stylist Marni Senofonte for co-creating a Haute Couture Collection inspired form Bey’s album Renaissance. After five moths of working together the have designed 16 looks for each of the track on the album. Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain made its debut on the cover of French Vogue on March 24, 2023. The looks in the collection are one of a kind and they won’t be on sale. In Olivier Rousteing’s words “The collection’s co-designers, working closely with the Balmain design team and Beyoncé’s longtime stylist Marni Senofonte, played with Balmain house signatures, classic Parisian savoir-faire and a wide range of unexpected materials and techniques, to ingeniously translate RENAISSANCE’s joy and genius into a couture collection that makes clear that something powerful can result when music and fashion are combined into one unified whole.” With this innovative collaboration Beyoncé has become the first black woman who had ful creative license to lead a couture collection.

Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain

Photo: Courtesy of Balmain

The 16 designs in the collection are avant-garde, extraordinary and powerful. For me, at first glance they remind me of what Daniel Roseberry would design as Schiaparelli if he was in collaboration with Beyoncé. I am not saying the looks are not original but rather they have the similar strong effect as Roseberry’s designs for Schiaparelli. It is no doubt that we can see the Balmain’s strong women silhouette through these designs. Both Olivier and Beyoncé are fans of Schiaparelli. Beyoncé for wearing Schiaparelli designs in multiple appearances and Rousteing for attending Schiaparelli fashion shows and expressing his admiration for Elsa Schiaparelli. I think the inspiration comes from not the house of Schiaparelli rather from Elsa Schiaparelli and her extra ordinary designs. Prominent fashion designers such as; Yves Saint Laurent, Azzedine Alaïa, John Galliano and Christian Lacroix were appropriated Elsa Schiaparelli’s designs as well. Elsa Schiaparelli was and is one of the most influential designer in fashion world. She did not stick by the rules and she created clothes that blur the lines between art and fashion. This is what I see at Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain collection. With this collection; music, art, fashion and craftsmanship comes together.

The collection starts with the first track of the album “I’m That Girl”. The first look consists of long black leather pareo skirt and long black leather gloves with a bustier that has spikes all around like an armor. Just like the lyrics of “I’m That Girl”, the design shows strength and the confidence of the wearer. She is that girl, she believes herself and she is a warrior… The bustiers, the metal accessories in I’m That Girl and Virgo’s Groove are by the sculptor Elie Hirsh, who also works with Schiaparelli and other important fashion houses.

Look 1, “I’m That Girl”

Photo: Courtesy of Balmain

For the song “Cozy”, which is my favorite track on the album, Rousteing and Beyonce design a black velvet bodysuit with pink feathers coming out as if she is a firework. The song is all about feeling “cozy" in your own skin and with this look we can easily visualize the confidence busting out ones body with this feeling of coziness.

Look 2,

“Cozy” Photo: Courtesy of Balmain

One of the most powerful look from the collection is for the song “Break My Soul”. The song is all about confidence and power. So this song, they have went for a full black look that covers the whole body with a turban and a hood. This extravagant look reminds me of Grace Jones’s costumes. They have also created a trompe l’oeil bustier with 3D print, suggesting a nude torso. The trompe l’oeil bustier is used in other designs for the collection. I believe it is also a reference to The Skeleton Dress Elsa designed in collaboration with Salvador Dali. We also see these torsos in Daniel Roseberry’s designs for Schiaparelli. Overall look creates such a dramatic effect that is filled with power I can not wait for Queen B to wear it.

Look 6, “Break My Soul”

Photo: Courtesy of Balmain

Beyoncé has worn two of the designs from this collection so far and I can not wait to see more. The collaboration between one of the most powerful Parisian Fashion House and one of the most influential musician of our times shows how music can be a powerful influence on fashion and art. I also love this collection because of its reference points to Elsa Schiaparelli and her avant-garde designs.

References

“Renaissance Couture By Beyoncé x Balmain”, March 2023 https://tr.balmain.com/en/experience/renaissance-couture-beyonce-x-balmain

Brycen Saunders, “Beyoncé and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing Reveal ‘Renaissance’ Couture Collection, Hypebeast, March 24, 2023 https://hypebeast.com/2023/3/beyonce-balmain-olivier-rousteing-renaissance-couture-collection-info

Luke Leitch “ Beyoncé and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing Have Co- Designed a Collection - Introducing Renaissance Couture, Vogue, March 24, 2023 https://www.vogue.com/article/beyonce-balmain-olivier-rousteing-renaissance-couture-launch

Hannah Militano, “Beyoncé and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing Create Couture Collaboration Inspired By ‘Renaissance’, https://graziamagazine.com/us/articles/beyonce-and-balmain-collaborate-on-couture-collection/

Maxine Wally, “Beyoncé and Balmain Introduce Renaissance Couture Collection”, W Magazine, March 24, 2023 https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/beyonce-balmain-olivier-rousteing-renaissance-couture