beehive, mark your calendars for January 18. That’s the day Beyonce’s iconic athleisure brand Ivy Park officially relaunches in the form of a new drop with Adidas, including gender-neutral pieces and—for the first time—footwear.
We finally have a sneak peek at the collab via Bey’s Instagram this morning—plus the January cover feature from Elle Magazine. The latter features a candid AMA-style Q&A with Queen B, who models new Ivy Park x Adidas pieces in the accompanying photoshoot by Melina Matsoukas, her Formation collaborator (and director of Queen & Slim).
The “multi-layered partnership” was announced in a joint statement back in April—several months after Beyonce officially split with Topshop to acquire Ivy Park outright and exercise full ownership of the athleisure brand, becoming the first African-American woman (and one of the youngest women period) to do so. “This is the partnership of a lifetime for me,” Beyonce said about the Adidas collab this spring. “Adidas has had tremendous success in pushing creative boundaries. We share a philosophy that puts creativity, growth, and social responsibility at the forefront of business. I look forward to re-launching and expanding Ivy Park on a truly global scale with a proven, dynamic leader.”
Based on the campaign, everything in the collection is very, very cool: think track top bodysuits, harness bags, oversized short-sleeve hoodies, snap jackets, cargo sweatpants, and asymmetrical dresses—in this case, all modeled by Beyonce in a gas station or hair salon with chunky gold jewelry and a Gucci coat, Valentino gown, or Maison Margiela vinyl corset, which only serves to exponentially up said cool factor.
Aside from footwear—per Elle, Beyonce hand-selected her favorite Adidas silhouettes “and mixed them with the aesthetics of the season”—the collection will also offer gender-neutral styles for the first time after Beyonce noticed just how many male fans were already wearing Ivy Park.
“My mother instilled in me the idea that creativity starts with a taking a leap of faith—telling your fears they are not allowed where you are headed. And I’m proud to do that with Adidas,” Beyonce said in Elle. “[The first collection] incorporates my personal style and expands that to include something for everyone. I love experimenting with fashion, mixing high and low, sportswear with couture, even masculine with feminine. This new line is fun and lends itself to creativity, the ultimate power.
“I focused on designing a unisex collection of footwear and apparel because I saw so many men in Ivy Park,” she continued. “The way they have embraced the brand is an unexpected gift. I appreciate the beauty of gender-neutral clothing and breaking the so-called fashion rules. I took a chance on myself when I bought my company back. We all have the confidence in us to take chances and bet on ourselves.”
Beyond a first look at the collection, the spread also afforded the rare intimate glimpse into the famously private superstar’s life and mind. Her answers to fan-submitted questions were peppered with emojis (praying hands and tears of laughter) and included dad jokes (“what do you call a deer with no eyes? No idea. Get it? NO-EYED-DEER. I’m so sorry.”), inspirational advice, Prince quotes, and a few Easter eggs in the form of Jay-Z lyrics (how long does it take her to get ready? “As I long as I take, I better look like Halle Berry.”).
We also learned that Beyonce opts for “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” and “Hotel California” at karaoke; she hates being asked if she’s pregnant (“get off my ovaries!”); she could eat Oreos for a week straight; she sends long texts; her most treasured title is Blue, Rumi, and Sir’s mom (awww); she doesn’t know her own Snapchat; she still wants to be a whale for a day (and she was not high in that video); she last went to a bodega for tequila and Funyuns with Jay before a Madonna concert; she sees you trying to sneak pics of her at Target; and she struggles with work-life balance like the rest of us.
“Yes,” she said when asked if she ever reacts to negative comments about herself. “I’m human.” (Debatable). “I try to remind myself I’m strong and I’m built for this. Thank God most of the noise bounces off of me after all of these years.”
|
|
|
