Renaissance Couture: Beyoncé and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing have co-designed a collection

Today, Beyoncé has announced the launch of a brand new high fashion collection, titled ‘Renaissance Couture’ in collaboration with her friend and Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing. 

Pitched as a joint vision between the pair, the line, which features 16 different looks, represents each of the 16 tracks from the pop star’s latest hit album, Renaissance. And what better way to announce the news than appearing on the cover of Vogue France’s April 2023 issue?

Speaking about the collab, Rousteing tells Vogue: “I was sketching and sketching as I listened, and sometimes you can’t control the emotion of your sketch. And I started to imagine the sketches inside her album, how they would relate to the songs and the lyrics—it wasn’t something I was supposed to be doing but I was just inspired by the music to do it. And that’s how this started. My hope was that she would be up for something even beyond the work we have done together before… I wanted us to be co-designers.”

Over the past five months, Rousteing has been working with Beyoncé and her stylist Marni Senofonte to whittle down his original 50 looks down to 16. Two of these have already been revealed to the world at the Grammys and the BRIT Awards earlier in 2023.

“Olivier is a dream collaborator and a constantly innovating and evolving creative,” says the ‘Break My Soul’ hitmaker on the collection. “All that he has done as a Black designer in breaking down and opening doors has been inspiring. From our very first meeting, to his designs over the years for my performances and appearances, I knew one day I would work with him on a collection. I am so proud of what we created and the synergy that formed between our teams.”