Beychella lives on. Fans can soon relive Beychella by sporting the college-themed apparel that Beyonce donned during her Coachella headlining set. Balmain announced Tuesday its Beyonce x Balmain collection based on the 22-time Grammy Award-winning artist's Coachella wardrobe, which was custom-made by Balmain for her desert performance in April.
The new collection, launching worldwide July 14 and at the Paris flagship store July 13, features monogrammed "BK" hoodies and shirts in black, yellow and pink to match Queen Bey's costumes. One difference: a prominent Balmain logo with Greek Deltas replacing the As.
Beyonce released Coachella merch on her website in April, including windbreakers, crewnecks, tees, and shorts with Greek letters. However, the pieces weren't based on her costume designs, weren't made by Balmain and were only sold for about a month.
Proceeds of the forthcoming Balmain collection will benefit the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to help students of color attend college. Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing called it a "need to repay an obvious debt for the inspiration we received from [HBCUs'] signature spirit and legacy." He worked with Beyonce for months to craft each symbolic look, including a cape and headpiece that nodded to Egyptian queen Nefertiti, a crest with Black Power motifs and several logos with Greek letters that reference college culture.
Rousteing believes the "iconic" outfits "will long remain in my generation's collective memory."
It premieres exclusively at Balmain's Paris flagship from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 13, and then at other Balmain boutiques as well as Harrods, Barneys New York, Net-a-Porter and more retailers the following day.
Read Rousteing's full statement below.
In my eight years as Balmain's Creative Director, I've had a lot of incredible experiences and I know that there are many, many more to come — but I can say today, with absolute confidence, that collaborating with Beyonce on her Coachella concerts is destined to be one of the most important and treasured memories of my career.
Why? Because Beyonce.
Everything you've already heard before is true. She's a goddess, blessed with an incredibly beautiful voice and a moral vision to match. She's a powerful, inspirational woman who isn't about to accept any limitation. And, she's a joy to work with. Her level of obsessive perfectionism matches mine, so we loved poring over everything — literally everything — together; making sure that we agreed on every tiny, teeny detail of the two enormous collections that we created together for her, her family and her 200-plus dancers and band members.
It's not often I get to partner so closely on a true collaboration with someone that I so highly respect and from whom I can learn so much. Our three months of meetings, rehearsals, face- timing and endless phone calls definitely paid off. What we all saw on those successive Coachella weekends was nothing less than iconic. Her performance, message and music — along with the looks that we created together — made for one of those rare, indelible images that I believe will long remain in my generation's collective memory.
After experiencing that beautiful partnership, we weren't ready to just walk away without adding one final, perfecting touch. This collection of hoodies and tees, based on key designs from our Coachella efforts, responds to our need to repay an obvious debt for the inspiration we received from the signature spirit and legacy of America's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Which is why we are so very pleased to announce that proceeds from this collection will help fund the impressive work of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) — helping to guarantee that tomorrow's leaders will be able to attend college, thrive and graduate." - Hollywoodreporter.com
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