Beyoncé via Parkwood Entertainment/ beyonce.com

Just hours after the news broke that Beyoncé and adidas would be ending their collaborative ties, the record-breaking Grammy-winner announced a new partnership with French luxury fashion house Balmain.

Beyoncé co-designed a Balmain Haute Couture collection with the maison’s longtime creative director Olivier Rousteing, inspired by the artist’s seventh solo studio album, Renaissance.

Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain features 16 otherworldly bespoke creations, dedicated to the 16 tracks on the award-winning record. “Thank you @olivier_rousteing and @balmain for bringing RENAISSANCE to life in couture,” Beyoncé wrote on Instagram. “Designing alongside you was freeing — thank you for allowing me to celebrate the human form, to take artistic risks, to push boundaries and to freely express myself.”

Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain (L-R) Beyoncé via Parkwood Entertainment/ beyonce.com, Courtesy of Balmain

In an official press release, Rousteing described being transfixed by the music on her recent album, which was released in July, and feeling the urge to create. In September, the designer enlisted the help of Beyoncé and her stylist Marni Senofonte to co-design the collection.

“I wanted us to be co-designers,” he said in a statement. “Maybe it was because of the great importance that her first style icon, Beyoncé’s beloved uncle Jonny, had on the album. Or maybe it was because I’ve seen, firsthand, just how much Ms. Tina Knowles Lawson’s taste, talent and training have ensured that her daughter Beyoncé is another great designer — but, this moment seemed to be the right time for Beyoncé to commit to working on the creation of a true Parisian couture offering, by assuming the role of design partner on our RENAISSANCE Couture Collection.”

I’M THAT GIRL Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain (Courtesy of Balmain)

The designer expressed his gratitude and excitement on Instagram writing, “More than Fashion, more than music, it’s when we can combine both ARTS. RENAISSANCE IS INSPIRATION FOR LIFE. Creating with you @beyonce is an important chapter of my life. You made me believe in me and pushing boundaries like no one else.
@marnixmarni , you are also my Alien Superstar. YOUR’E ARE TOO CLASSY FOR THIS WORLD! Your vision, your passion and helping to create this collection all together is more than what I could dream about. I love you forever.”

In a second post, Rousteing said, “Dear @beyonce creating this couture collection with you was more than a dream. You inspired me every day since the beginning of my career. Renaissance is more than an album its FREEDOM, its STRENGTH, LOVE and BATTLE FOR A BETTER FUTURE. 16 couture looks for 16 songs and now our couture Renaissance is out 🖤 and I have tears in my eyes when I see all what we did.”

He continued, “Thank you for being You. For creating together on the rhythm of Renaissance and sharing both arts: music and Fashion together. You were right it’s our Virgo Power and I love You forever. OR.”

SUMMER RENAISSANCE Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain (Courtesy of Balmain)

The collection filled with unabashed fantasy and otherworldly glamour and eagle-eyed fans will notice that Beyoncé actually debuted two of the looks secretly before the announcement was made.

The singer adorned the look inspired by the song “Virgo’s Groove” on the night of the Grammy Awards. In photos shared on Instagram, she wore a soft peach velvet gown with a dramatic tunneled collar, a plunging neckline with a golden breastplate and a thigh-high slit with matching velvet leggings that extended into peep-toe wedge heels. Beyoncé completed her outfit with a (potentially trophy-inspired) golden hat and embellished sunglasses.

Beyoncé via Parkwood Entertainment/ beyonce.com

She captioned the post, “We won 3 y’all! To my Hive, thank y’all so much for all of your love and loyalty! Big thank you for the BREAK MY SOUL and CUFF IT wins!!!” The musician went on to thank her fellow “Break My Soul,” “Cuff It,” and “Plastic Off the Sofa” creators and collaborators. “It feels great to be honored for the vocal performance. Thank you to all the talented vocalists who killed those beautiful TikTok renditions!” she added. “I feel very grateful and filled with joy!”

Beyoncé wore the Balmain ensemble inspired by the song, “PURE/HONEY” to receive her awards at the 2023 BRIT Awards for best international artist and international song of the year for “Break My Soul.” She appeared virtually wearing the black-and-white sequined checkerboard jumpsuit with furry long sleeves and a coordinating tiered sequined hat.

PURE/HONEY Renaissance Couture by Beyoncé x Balmain (Courtesy of Balmain)

In 2018, Balmain dressed the singer and her dancers for her historic headlining performance at Coachella. “To be able to work closely with a master like Beyoncé to find the best way to bring couture to performance and music, was a stroke of luck,” Rousteing said at the time.

Their new partnership is history-making for both of them. “This appears to be the first time that a Black woman has overseen the couture offering from a historic Parisian house,” Rousteing said. “And those designs were created in partnership with the first Black man to ever oversee all the collections at a historic Parisian house.”

Beyoncé via Parkwood Entertainment/ beyonce.com

He continued, “Let’s hope those two firsts help inspire plenty of others. In addition, I am certain that these RENAISSANCE Couture Collection designs, once they enter into the house’s archives, are destined to inspire generations of future Balmain designers.”