“As artists, working with Beyoncé has been the most touching experience ever.” Courréges’s Nicolas Di Felice and Coperni’s Arnaud Vaillant on creating the looks for the Renaissance tour.

“It should cost a billion to look this good.” These words echoed across the Friends Arena on the opening night of Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, kicking off a three-hour spectacle where her galactic vision and perfectionism transcended us into the Dance universe, experiencing the out-of-body feeling of having Mrs. Carter step on stage solo for the first time in seven years. Alongside a powerhouse of vocals, shuffling through a twenty-five year catalogue, and performing some of her greatest hits like “Dangerously in Love”, “Run the World (Girls)”. and, of course, every. single. track. of her new Renaissance album, this production provided an incredibly intimate experience, from the backdrop of one of the biggest tour stages ever built.

And then came the fashion. Working with a dream team of stylists in the face of Julia Sarr-Jamois and Shiona Turini, each look encompassed a different universe of music, freedom and expression. Whilst developing the concept of opening her show as the “supporting act”, Beyoncé graced the stage with her biggest ballads in a custom Alexander McQueen anatomically embroidered with crystals, and inspired by Look 39, a shorter, sculpted metallic dress from Sarah Burton’s AW23 collection. After enducing a healthy dose of nostalgia and melancholy, we were sent off into the disco Space Age, where voguing and fashion reigned supreme.

Opening her Renaissance segment in a custom silver bodysuit, designed and created for her by Courréges and Nicolas Di Felice, it was inspired by the social media-obsessed AW23 collection where circular pendants reigned across 60s A-line dresses and busy models walking and texting across the catwalk. Speaking to Perfect, Di Felice expressed his absolute joy behind realising his sketches and ideas on the stage. “I am so amazed by this whole experience, and witnessing how our work can touch different people in their own unique ways. Even my neighbour went up to me the next morning and showed me the pictures from opening night! With big productions like tours, you never know if the looks you create will end up on the stage, and as soon as the show started I was actually at the theatre, watching the newest Isabelle Huppert play, and my phone started blowing up.”

When talking about his adoration for music, the designer also shares how special this album is to him “At the beginning of Alien Superstar when she samples the techno track Moonraker by Foremost Poets, it actually is one of my absolute favourite tracks I’ve listened to since I was 17, and no one knew about it! When doing my first show for Courréges, I even considered using it as the main soundtrack on the runway, so it’s amazing to see both of my universes collide!” Reminiscing about first getting the call, Di Felice recollects how he was windswept when stylist Julia Sarr-Jamois first reached out to him. “I was having drinks with a friend, and we were briefly discussing if I will do more stage and tour concepts, and I expressed that I was very excited by the idea. Five days later, Julia [Sarr-Jamois] called me and she had such intricate notes about my work, and she knew who I am as a designer very well. The whole process has been so joyous and natural, I love that the look we created can exist in the Courréges universe, and be seen as part of my show.”

Another major moment across the Renaissance universe was the grandiose ending, with Beyoncé floating through the crowds of the packed stadium on her symbolic Renaissance horse (or ‘Reneigh’ as the Beyhive has labelled it) in a seriously dramatic custom silver-embellished Coperni dress, with a matching oversized silver-detailed cape that floats all the way down into the crowd, as the queen herself takes one last bow after the three-hour immersive experience. On the phone, one half of Coperni design duo Arnaud Vaillant, exclaimed how these moments are what bring the ultimate satisfaction in your work. “It feels absolutely unbelievable to have collaborated with one of the greatest performers of all time, especially on closing the show. The look was inspired by a beautiful dress from our AW23 show, which was crafted from laser-cut metallic feathers all around. Designing the cape and collaborating with her stylist Julia [Sarr-Jamois] was a dream come true, we were so grateful and excited to see how everyone was so happy. When I first saw it on Twitter during opening night, I almost didn’t believe it was our work. I just keep going “Is this us? Is it our look?” Overall, this has been an incredible moment for all of us, and also our friends in Paris who also have worked tirelessly on this show.”