The singer’s clothes have always been about reinforcing her image as a superstar, not scoring fashion points. So why is she wearing Gucci catwalk looks in her new video?
You are going to think I have spectacularly missed the point of the Formation video when I say we need to talk about the Gucci blouse and skirt Beyoncé is wearing as the New Orleans police car she is lying on sinks under the Katrina floodwaters, but wait up. The fact that Formation is Beyoncé’s most high-fashion moment ever – she wears two new-season Gucci looks head-to-toe, exactly as they were seen on the catwalk – is not beside the point. As of this weekend, Beyoncé runs the world again. And this time, she is using fashion as armour and ammunition.
Until now, being fashionable has not really been what Beyoncé is about. Say what? That sounds counterintuitive, I know. Beyoncé is the one of the most glamorous, distinctive, gorgeous, stylish women in the world. But being glamorous and distinctive and beautiful and stylish are all things you can achieve solo; being fashionable is something you can only do as part of a dialogue with what is happening in fashion. Until Formation, Beyoncé’s clothes have been about reinforcing her image as a superstar, not about winning fashion points.
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