Beyonce’s long-awaited Renaissance world tour kicked off on Wednesday night at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Following on from her hit album Renaissance and the collab it inspired with Balmain, all eyes were on the outfits. The show was three hours long, had no opener, and featured a 37-song set list with old and new hits like ‘Run the World’ and ‘Cuff It”. The Guardian described the tour as “dripping with sci-fi disco decadence, sex, body positivity, and feminine black pride”, while the New York Times described it as “part retrofuturism and part disco fantasia”.
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Here are our favourite looks:
Image Credit: Z.J. Backgrid
Living up to her Queen Bee reputation, Beyoncé wore this custom Mugler yellow and black metallic bodysuit, paired with black vinyl gloves and thigh-high boots, and a helmet equipped with antennae and yellow-tinted sunglasses. The outfit references the Mugler spring 1997 couture collection, inspired by insects.
Fans went crazy for this magical UV-colour-changing dress by Anrealage. The white bell-sleeved cloak transformed into a multi-coloured display when the light shone on it. The technology behind the coat was the work of Tokyo designer Kunihiko Morinaga, who showed colour-changing clothes at Paris Fashion Week FW23.
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Beyoncé was giving ‘Formation’ with this wide-brimmed hat and a custom diamanté leotard from Balmain FW23. The bodysuit featured an intricate pearl web, matching her pearl-rimmed cat eye sunglasses, and was styled with black vinyl thigh-high boots.
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur
Out of all her bodysuits of the evening, this bejewelled Loewe number stole the show. Adorned with manicured hands, with which Bey wore matching latex gloves, the suit was custom made by Jonathan Anderson and was reminiscent of the hand-dress from Loewe’s FW22 collection at Paris Fashion Week.
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Another custom Balmain look, Beyoncé transformed into a mirror ball in this asymmetric mirrored mini dress. She paired it with silver thigh-high boots and metallic sunglasses.
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur
Beyoncé wore another bodysuit, this time a futuristic-silhouette number from Alexander McQueen. It was hand embroidered, mixing different textures like rhinestones, intricate beading and metallic threads, and featured padded shoulders and hips.
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David Koma, who also designed Bey’s Oscars performance look last year, created this custom ensemble inspired by his SS23 collection. The look consisted of a turtleneck bodycon dress with a ruched, high-low skirt, a long iridescent metallic coat, chunky silver earrings, and holographic asymmetric cowboy boots.
Beyoncé heads to England next week and covers 40 cities in Europe, the UK, Canada, and the US, concluding in New Orleans in late September. Let’s hope we get to see even more looks as the tour goes on!
Words by Lucy Walshe
Header Image by Kevin Mazur
