Stop Saying Beyoncé Isn’t a Fashion Icon
BY ALLISON P DAVIS
Last week, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced an exhibit dedicated to Beyoncé’s iconic fashion. This week it’s time to debate whether Beyoncé actually deserves the title of “fashion icon.” Over at the New York Times, Vanessa Friedman argues that while Beyoncé is many things, she is not — and never has been — a fashion icon.
Friedman’s overall argument is that while the Brand of Beyoncé holds sway in the music and business world, she “hasn’t moved, or influenced, the direction of fashion writ large … ” — and I’d have to disagree. She might not be a fashion icon in the rarefied CFDA-sense of the word, but in the spirit of Jackie O and Jane Birkin, she certainly embodies a forgotten definition of the concept: an Everywoman’s style icon.
Friedman makes the good and totally valid point that one reason she isn’t associated with certain brands is that she has carefully fostered her own brand and name — and lets no other brand eclipse her own:
She says that Beyoncé “doesn’t cause items to sell out overnight, like wee Prince George.” But let’s give her a little more credit. A Dolce & Gabanna dress sold out after she wore it to view the Kara Walker exhibit earlier this summer, as did this $140 Topshop dress. Her “Bonnie and Clyde”–era embrace of Manolo Blahnik’s stiletto Timbs contributed to the shoe's popularity and the zillion sell-out, but her collaboration with H&M was wildly successful (and was better received than Rihanna’s River Island collection). While we’re making this comparison, when is the last time Rihanna wore something that sold out overnight? And let's thank Bey for freakum dresses.Unlike her contemporaries Rihanna and Lady Gaga, Beyoncé isn’t dressing for spectacle.
It’s a mistake to use the Hall of Fame’s exhibit as the jumping off point for this conversation. Yes, the exhibit is centered around Beyoncé’s “iconic” outfits, but it's a testament to her general icon status _ 2014 has been the year of Queen B., and the museum needed to pay homage to that somehow. Beyoncé fans (and haters) are more fascinated with her than ever — what she’s doing, where she’s traveling, and yes, what she’s wearing.
The definition of “fashion icon” should stop being so narrow and as inaccessible as it is these days. It should be about more than just wearing the most avant-garde or fresh-off-the-runway looks. Because if you pay attention to the whole picture, not just the one painted with a rarefied brush, Beyoncé’s fashion truly matters to people.
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