Diesel by Nicola Formichetti
“Finally, we can tell the world!” laughed Nicola Formichetti over the phone this morning. What’s the big news? That he and Diesel dressed Beyoncé, Jay Z, and a bevy of backup dancers for the just-launched On the Run tour, of course. “I haven’t done a tour since Gaga, and that was a couple of years ago, so this is really exciting. Beyoncé just brings it out there. She brings it to another level.”
It all began after Formichetti’s blowout debut runway show for Diesel, which marched down the catwalk in Venice last April. Queen Bey liked what she saw, and asked Formichetti to make her five custom Fall ’14-inspired ensembles for the Bonnie & Clyde-themed tour.
But dressing Beyoncé, Formichetti admits, isn’t quite the same as costuming more sartorially eccentric stars like Mme. Gaga or his latest project, Brooke Candy. “With Beyoncé, we wanted to do something real,” explained the designer. “She’s a real woman, a real bombshell, and it was all about showcasing this strong, fierce woman. So we focused on her body, and used super-stretchy denim for [last night's] jumpsuit, which just makes her t*ts and her *** look even more amazing than they already do.” Indeed, the abovementioned jumpsuit, featuring frayed edges and chain and stud embellishments, does just that. A sketch of the look debuts exclusively here. According to Formichetti, the singer will rotate various Diesel ensembles throughout the four-month tour.
Formichetti who first worked with Bey when she costarred in Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video back in 2010, said that she and her team were very hands-on. B
efore the intense week of final fittings, the pop star browsed through the collection with Formichetti and was particularly drawn to a denim, flame-embroidered jacket. “It was basically a direct copy of a piece from the archive, and she was like, ‘OMG! I wore something like this in the nineties for Destiny’s Child!’” he said. As for the musician’s epic style evolution, he offered, “I think she’s just refined her whole look. And I love that she can do both: She can be a cool street girl or a goddess and she’s still Beyoncé.”
Formichetti told us that working with Mrs. Carter was not only a personal coup, but a big moment for Diesel, too. “We’re up onstage next to Tom Ford, Givenchy, and Versace—they’re the other brands that worked on the show—and as a non-high-fashion brand, that’s very exciting. It shows that our work is at that level. Even Beyoncé, when she was picking out pieces she wanted from the Fall collection, was saying, ‘Diesel’s back!’ It was great,” recalled the designer, later hinting that more collaborations might be in his and Beyoncé’s future.
But it’s not just Bey, Jay, and their onstage crew that
Formichetti is dressing—Blue Ivy is getting in on the action, too. “We’re making her a little bomber jacket with ‘Blue Ivy’ written on the back.” Apparently, it will match Mom’s Diesel Fall ’14 leather topper, which she had embroidered with the word Texas—her home state.
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