One thing about Beyoncé: She will always have a fashion partnership waiting in the wings. The Grammy Award–winning singer announced her Renaissance Couture collection — her first high-fashion collaboration with Balmain and its creative director, Olivier Rousteing — one day after sources told The Hollywood Reporter that her five-year Adidas x Ivy Park collaboration is no more. “Olivier is a dream partner and a designer who is constantly innovating and evolving,” Beyoncé said in a statement to Vogue France. “All that he has done as a black designer to open doors has been a source of inspiration. Ever since our very first meeting, and thanks to the designs that he has made for my shows and appearances over the years, I knew that one day I would work on a collection with him. I am extremely proud of what we have created, and of the synergies that formed between our teams.”
The collection of 16 looks arrived by way of a Vogue France editorial, teased on Instagram with each outfit corresponding to a Renaissance track. Visually speaking, the velvet, feathered, furry, and bedazzled looks appear to take inspiration from Thierry Mugler’s famous chandelier dress, Elsa Schiaparelli’s gilded breastplates, Noir Kei Ninomiya’s voluminous out-of-this-world looks, Philip Treacy’s wondrous headpieces designed for Grace Jones, and, obviously, the singer herself. “Beyoncé advocates for freedom above all else, for freedom in today’s world,” Rousteing said in a statement to Vogue France. “This is a powerful voice that resonates. She speaks of diversity, of every kind of diversity, and pays tribute to the queer community, honoring house music, ballroom and voguing balls.” It’s couture, honey.