Unique! That’s certainly the best way to describe the fashion featured in Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour, which kicked off in Stockholm on Wednesday. The first stop of the 57-show tour featured the singer performing in a dizzying array of club-ready couture creations.
Light and colour were prominent motifs throughout the first show, with multiple outfits featuring holographic or reflective treatments that masterfully adapted the album’s visual aesthetic for a stadium setting. Beyoncé hasn’t been on tour in almost five years, but is still ever the showgirl when it comes to her performance attire. There was even a dress that changed colour when exposed to UV light. Fans immediately guessed that it’s by the Japanese brand Anrealage – which showcased similar pieces in its autumn/winter 2023 show. A Jonathan Anderson-designed Loewe bejewelled bodysuit, adapted from a look featured in the brand’s autumn/winter 2022 collection, featured provocatively positioned arms, the hands tipped with red fingernails. It felt reminiscent of another cheeky bodycon piece, designed by The Blondes, that Bey wore for a previous tour in 2013.
A custom Balmain look, designed by Olivier Rousteing, featured a corset designed entirely from pearls. The new look tapped into the same brand of ballroom-minded codes as the couture collab Rousteing and Beyoncé debuted earlier this season. (Although, surprisingly, none of those one-of-one looks appeared on stage – but there are 56 more stops on the tour to go.) London-based fashion designer David Koma, who previously crafted a buzzy tennis ball-yellow gown for Bey, created a wrap holographic dress for the singer to wear on the night.
The standout accessory of the night? Undoubtedly the giant, Studio 54-esque sequined horse Beyoncé flew around on for the show’s epic finale. Though, the spring 1997 Mugler-inspired antennae she wore with a custom Casey Cadwallader-designed bodysuit came a close second.
Overall, the tour feels like a fabulous embodiment of the techno and ballroom-infused sound of Renaissance, which Beyoncé has described as an ode to dance music and queer culture. The wardrobe also continues the singer’s streak of ostentatiously avant-garde couture fashion for the album’s innovative visual campaigns. A teaser for “I’m That Girl”, which runs a little under two minutes, featured a chaotic flurry of over a dozen custom looks by Schiaparelli, Balenciaga and others. Beyoncé is well and truly in her fashion girl era.
Of course, Beyoncé loves to tinker with her looks throughout the course of a tour – sometimes wearing an outfit solely for a single performance in one city. So there is likely much more great fashion set to come our way between now and the tour’s conclusion in New Orleans on 27 September. Stay tuned.
This article was originally published on Vogue US.
