Beyonce is changing the game again – and this time it’s the world of designer collaborations. Her new venture, the launch of her own brand with British brand Topshop, has made huge waves, and the fashion world is still trying to figure out what to think of it.
The model of fashion collaborations with celebrities has been fairly standard. A big name lends their star power, and their design expertise, to a capsule collection at an established retailer. The biggest success? Kate Moss for Topshop – where they basically reproduced some of Moss’s favourite vintage clothes for the mass market.
And we’ve loved it. Celebrity culture has infused fashion and vice versa, from the Kardashian Kollections to Jessica Simpson’s wildly successful fashion empire, and no A-lister sees it as a downgrade to link their name to the right label. Musicians and models are the biggest partners, with Rihanna’s collection for River Island a prime example. (Actresses largely keep to their Dior and Lancome contracts: it’s seen as safer.)
But Beyonce has pushed it further than ever. The Topshop venture isn’t a collaboration; it’s not a one-off collection. It’s a full brand launch, with its own name, business model, and independent aesthetic.
So why is this making such waves – and why are some celebrities and fashion houses probably not very happy with it?
The new company, Parkwood Topshop, will produce a “global athletic street-wear brand”, taking advantage of the sports-luxe style that’s become such a staple of everyday wear. You can blame Alexander Wang for that one.
And amid all the usual lip service to each other – Sir Philip Green, head of Topshop, raved about Beyonce’s “creative energy and enthusiasm”, and Beyonce praised the brand’s “fashion credentials and forward thinking” – both partners were quite firm that this is something different.
“This is not a collaboration,” Green told Women’s Wear Daily. “This is about building a brand and building a business – a separate, proper business, with separate overhead and a separate office.”
Beyonce’s tried dipping her toes into fashion before – her House of Dereon, run with her mother, has been going for nearly a decade, and hasn’t ever made a splash – but this is new. It’s world domination, backed by Topshop’s suppliers and Beyonce’s vision.
And the new model is disrupting what, for many retailers, had been a very easy way to make a quick profit. Harness the star power of the latest celebrity, get their input (or at least their approval) for a few outfits, and everybody parts happy.
It’s been that way for years – Amanda Bynes, pre-meltdown, did collections for a US mall chain, Sarah Jessica Parker just produced a shoe collection for American department store Nordstrom, and Lindsay Lohan produced a (disastrous) collection for Ungaro.
With this partnership with Topshop, Beyonce is turning that model upside down. A collaboration is limited-time-only, but Beyonce and Topshop are in it for the long term, developing styles and collections and evolving new trends. For both fans and fashionistas, that’s a far better deal. Rather than scrambling for a piece of a single collaboration collection, customers can develop a long relationship with the brand, know what it does best, and become loyal to it.
One-off collaborations now look a little bit flighty, a little commitment-phobic, by comparison. They’ll still happen, but in comparison with Beyonce’s strategy with Topshop – particularly in the realm of performance and athletic wear – other stars will have to fight to look serious about their fashion cred.
The stakes are high. Let’s hope Beyonce and Topshop’s Parkwood venture, which will launch in late 2015, will live up to the hype.
Image: Beyonce for Topshop via zimbio.com