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Image / Editorial

Beyonce for Topshop


By IMAGE
28th Oct 2014
Beyonce for Topshop

Not quite satisfied with every other way in which she’s achieving world domination (we’re growing ever so slightly tired of it now, aren’t you?) Beyonce’s now set her sights on our high street shopping habits, teaming up with one of our favourites, Topshop, for a collaboration unlike any other.

With so much success behind her, there seems to be a widespread assumption that everything Beyonce touches turns to gold, but this news comes just about two years after her own fashion line – House of Dereon – failed spectacularly. While her musical endeavours may inspire millions across the globe, her efforts as a fashion designer have thus far been disastrous. Both critics and the general public viewed the House of Dereon as way overpriced and a little bit garish. We’re sorry to say, Beyonce fans, but we’d have to agree.

The closure of the brand came as a shock to staff who were told that a reshuffle was on the cards. In a bid to protect Beyonce’s bulletproof image, the workers were under the impression that the line’s temporary closure was down to a huge, forthcoming relaunch that would take the House of Dereon to new heights. Needless to say, that never happened. To everyone’s disbelief, the superhuman that is Beyonce had failed and as swiftly as possible, it was swept under the rug.

What we’re asking ourselves today, though, is whether Beyonce really has to turn her hand to the world of fashion at all? Isn’t everything else she does – the perfumes, the tours, the albums, the selfies with Blue Ivy etc – enough?

While Beyonce would never be the first person we’d think of when it comes to celebrity style emulation, we’re relieved to hear that her joint venture with Topshop will focus primarily on ‘athletic streetwear’.

What’s more, this is no simple ‘Rihanna for River Island’ or ‘Kate Moss for Topshop’ collaboration. Beyonce’s taking things up a notch by building a new, separate spin-off company with Topshop, which when a diva’s involved, comes as no surprise.

?This not a collaboration. This is about building a brand and building a business – a separate, proper business, with separate overhead and a separate office,? Topshop owner Sir Philip Green told?Women’s Wear Daily.

Commenting on the ‘separate, proper business’, Beyonce herself has said “I have always loved Topshop for their fashion credentials and forward thinking.”

Whether Beyonce’s second attempt at fashion will change our minds on her sartorial credibility, we’ll have to wait until autumn 2015 to see. Though with a creative director, two lead designers and a whole new design team overseeing the project, we reckon she just might get away with it (read: she won’t have to do much other than show her face at a few meetings and get all the credit).

Over to you. How do you rate Beyonce’s style? Does this news excite you? Will this save Beyonce’s former fashion failings? Or do you think she should just stick at what she does best?

@CarolineForan