In case you’ve been living under a rock: Beyonce made history yesterday as the first black woman to headline Coachella. The performance was literally the greatest thing to ever happen on planet Earth, rendered even more iconic due to Beyonce’s five outfit changes – each custom designed by Balmain’s own Olivier Rousteing.
We all know Beyonce never disappoints; but, woah nelly! She really did it this time. Olivier Rousteing took the helm to design the costumes for not only Queen Bey, but the 200-odd onstage dancers and musicians, as well as Kelly(!!) and Michelle(!!!) who appeared for an unexpected Destiny’s Child reunion!
First off, Bey graced us with a Queen Nefertiti-inspired headdress, bodysuit and cape. It was embellished with thousands of black and gold sequins, and has the head of Queen Nefertiti herself embroidered on the back. In. Sane.
BEYCHELLA 2018 #balmain #beyoncé
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Next up, we have a yellow hoodie with denim daisy-dukes and fringed holographic boots. The yellow matched her stage-band dancers and musicians, whilst also flicking a nod to her album Lemonade.
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Then Bey changed into a BDSM-esque bodysuit complete with garters and thigh-high boots. It was topped off with what must have been an obscenely hot holographic jacket, but of course Beyonce didn’t sweat one single drop. I’m 72% sure Beyonce doesn’t really know how to sweat, to be honest. She donned this garb for ‘Don’t Hurt Urself’ and looked absolutely bada$$ singing, “Who the fuck do you think I is?”. We know who you are Beyonce. You’re amazing.
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For her duet with Jay she swapped out the body suit for a mesh t-shirt with Beyonce’s own crest on it, comprising: the bust of Queen Nefertiti, a black panther, a fist, and a bumble bee. The crest was created to symbolise the Beyonce university theme running through the dancers and musician’s performance, whilst also being evocative of the Black Rights movement. This theme runs throughout the entire performance, with a sound clip of Malcolm X also playing:
“The most disrespected woman in America, is the black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the black woman.”
Speaking of attention to detail, this also happened???
So am I the only one who noticed when @Beyonce went to change outfits she changed her damn nail polish? We don’t deserve her! @coachella#coachella#beychellapic.twitter.com/R27kQ5lIBs
— Jerome Trammel (@MrJeromeTrammel) April 15, 2018
I’m using this and how little Beyonce sweated during the entire performance as evidence for my next post, ‘Top 10 Reasons Why Beyonce Isn’t Legally Human’.
Then Bey changed once again and reunited with Destiny’s Child! They came out looking like the freaking Charlie’s Angels, all three fierce ladies adorned in sparkly camo-print outfits!
Oh, Beyonce, we do not deserve you. Bey’s set to perform again tonight wearing a whole new wardrobe so I think it’s safe to say we’ve all got big dinner plans with Youtube Livestream once again.
For a closer look at Balmain’s iconic style, check out FIB’s Masters of Fashion vol. 37 – Paris. Or check out our 5-Minute Web Doco on Pierre Balmain.
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