There has been talk of a Beyonce x TopShop athleisure brand for a little over two years now and so far that’s all it’s been, talk. Until now…..
In typical Beyonce style, Queen Bey herself dropped a moody black and white promo for her new line Ivy Park, calling it “effortless active wear” with no prior announcement. The 200 piece collection is a 50/50 joint venture with Sir Philip Green under their collaborative new brand Parkwood TopShop Athletic Ltd., however it will be stocked in a range of outlets rather than just Topshop as originally thought.
“This is not a collaboration. This is about building a brand and building a business – a separate, proper business, with separate overhead and a separate office, when she was in London in February we arranged to get together. We started talking generally, about doing something together. We’ve been looking at that [athletic] sector for a while. It’s something we need to be in. Based on what she does, how she works out, the conversation got into that category. We started getting into a proper conversation in May or June, as to how it would work. It took six or eight weeks to put a deal together. On Friday, Beyoncé came to our office for the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle.” Sir Philip Green
Green also confirmed that the business will be run and managed sadly not by Beyonce but by a hired in Creative Director and two Designers from both fashion and sports related backgrounds in order to get the mix of high fashion and performance sportswear “just right”.
Let’s not forget that this is not Beyonce’s first foray into fashion, her House of Dereon line folded in 2012 following poor reception.
In the promo Beyonce talks about going back to “The Park” in a bid to inspire young fans into fitness and there’s no better advert for that than Beyonce right? Shame she did it in wedge heel sneakers and a face full of make up #JustSaying.
The collection is strong, backless & sleeveless hoodies, over the top logo-ing akin to that of nineties active wear, and bold colours provide a highlight to a pallete of mostly black and grey (the best colours for sportswear). These are designs you’ll want to wear and you’ll want to show them off but being part of Bey’s squad will hit you in the wallet, with prices starting at £14 for a hairband and reaching a whopping £200. Bey has emphasised that the collection has a focus on high fashion as this “matters most to fans”.
Think mesh bodysuits, thigh high socks, made to be seen sportsbras and “flip-to-low-rise” leggings, all emblazoned with the brand name, incase you forget it.
The collection is definitely lust-worthy and uber covetable, there’s no word yet on how frequently collections will be produced and re-stocked and whether it will be exclusive in that once it’s gone, it’s gone. Either way, if you are lucky enough to snap up anything from the first Ivy Park drop on April 14th, you’re likely to bump into another 14 or so Ivy Park clones the next day in the gym. And maybe I’ll be one of them…..
Pixie x
Ivy Park Collection 1 is available to buy at TopShop, net-a-porter and Zalando from April 16th.
