Beyoncé kicked off her hotly anticipated “Renaissance” world tour in Sweden on Wednesday night — and, true to form, it was a night of numerous outfit changes. It was also a night of (nearly as many) custom bodysuits. There was a silvery Courrèges one with an iridescent circular cutout at its center; a sparkling Alexander McQueen one that flared elegantly at the hips; and a Balmain one embroidered with an intricate web of pearls.
But the bodysuit that truly set the internet alight came courtesy of Spanish label Loewe.
Beyoncé performing onstage at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
Bejeweled with gold crystal appliqué, the sparkling one-piece featured a series of strategically placed hand motifs, each decorated with long red nails .Two of the “hands” reached up the star’s legs, two covered more intimate body parts and two rested on her posterior (as revealed when the singer turned her back to the audience during a rendition of “Drunk in Love”). She completed the look with a pair of matching black rubber latex gloves with their own sets of red nails. “That Loewe bodysuit Beyoncé is wearing will be in history books,” wrote one Twitter user. “I need that hands bodysuit asap,” wrote another.
The look was conceived by Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson, who — fresh from overseeing Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show outfit — is among the world’s most in-demand fashion designers. His sensual hand motifs previously appeared on a sleeveless dress as part of the label’s Fall-Winter 2022 collection, which debuted at Paris Fashion Week last year. Working in collaboration with stylist Shiona Turini, Loewe also created a second bodysuit for the tour. That one was covered in silver Swarovski crystals and was paired with matching cargo trousers. In a press release, Loewe said the two outfits played on “sculptural forms, trompe l’oeil and illusion,” adding that Anderson had been inspired by the “escapist joy” of Beyoncé’s latest album.
Wednesday marked the first of Beyoncé’s two-night stop in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Between now and the end of September, her tour will travel to 40 cities across Europe and North America. The show wardrobe appears to be a veritable who’s-who of high fashion, with designs by Coperni and David Koma also spotted during the three-hour debut performance. In one of the night’s most eye-catching moments, a white gown by innovative Japanese label Anrealage was transformed into technicolor when two mechanical arms “sprayed” it with UV light. Elsewhere, Queen Bey continued her long tradition of wearing bee-inspired stage outfits in a yellow and black Mugler number — complete, of course, with an antennae headpiece.
