Carlie Beard | Arts and Entertainment Editor
Queen Bey has done it again. Her athletic/fitness brand Ivy Park, has collaborated with one of the largest sports brands in the world, Adidas. The new collection dropped on January 17th, leaving the BeyHive in a full-on frenzy. The new line which is branded on being neutral is selling out everywhere at popular retailers. Such as Footlocker, Nordstrom and online at Adidas.com.
However, this is not Beyoncé first rodeo in the fashion game. In 2006, Beyonceé released her denim brand catered to curvy women called “House of Deréon”. This was the “Drunk in Love” star’s first taste of the fashion industry. Although House of Deréon didn’t last long, ten years later Beyoncé focused in on a new area of the fashion world, athleisure by creating “Ivy Park.” The word Ivy comes from her eldest daughter’s name, Blu Ivy Carter. The word Park originates from Parkwood Park in Houston, where Beyoncé would play as a child.
“Deréon walked, so that Ivy Park could run,” says Derrick Collins, a senior journalism major from Chicago.
Deréon did, in fact, pave the way for the success of Ivy Park, as Beyoncê grew as a businesswoman and studied the market she was tapping into.
Athleisure is a mix between athletic clothing that can be worn as regular day to day clothing. The trend of athleisure has been huge in fashion and origins come from streetwear. Some critics would say that Beyoncé’s first venture with Ivy Park wasn’t as successful as projected. However, she found a way to expand her business by teaming up with one of the world’s largest sports retailers.
When Ivy Park was first created, Beyoncé worked in partnership with the popular fashion brand Topshop. Which made her a partial owner of her own brand. After buying out billionaire partner Sir Philip Green, she has recently become the first woman to become the 100% owner of an athletic brand. Meaning that she entered into her Adidas partnership owning all the rights to Ivy Park. Cha-Ching!
Adidas is own for partnering with huge names in music such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. Both Kanye and Pharrell have their own sneaker brands with Adidas that sell very well. Now with the ultimate partnership with Beyoncé, Adidas is definitely expecting to see an increase in numbers due to the large following of the superstar.
The Ivy Park and Adidas collection feature bright orange and a dark maroon color as its theme for the line. Ranging from sweats to dresses, the collection embodies athleisure and has a piece for just about anyone’s aesthetic. Majority of the garments are also in cream with maroon stitching, giving a clean feel to the collection. Different enough, the collection is also gender fluid meaning that most pieces can either be worn by a man or woman. The pieces in the line range from $25 to just about $250. There is also footwear in this collection as well, which is mostly being resold on resale sneaker websites.
“I had to size down in my bodysuit I purchased from the Ivy Park X Adidas collection. If you plan on buying, make sure to try on in the store first,” McKinley Jenkins, a Hampton Alumnae and buyer at Nordstrom said.
The Hampton Script 