Beyoncé Collaborating with Balmain on Collection to Benefit UNCF

July 10, 2018

Proceeds from the collaboration will benefit UNCF, following Beyoncé’s $100,000 donation to four historically black colleges after her Coachella set.

Vogue Magazine has announced that superstar Beyoncé is partnering with Paris fashion house Balmain to offer a three-piece Balmain x Beyoncé collection, inspired by the sweatshirts from Beyoncé’s now-famous performance at the 2018 Coachella festival. The shirts and performance were an homage to HBCUs.

Proceeds from the collaboration will benefit UNCF, following Beyoncé’s $100,000 donation to four historically black colleges after her Coachella set.

The new collection’s soul and spirit carry HBCU and UNCF DNA. Beyoncé’s father, Mathew Knowles, graduated from Fisk University [a UNCF-member institution] and has taught at Texas Southern University. Beyoncé appeared on UNCF An Evening of Stars. Even the look of the new collection—yellow and pink sweatshirts Beyoncé wore on stage at the Coachella music festival and a black tee—is inspired by Balmain-created costumes based on HBCU marching band uniforms.

Designer Rousteing said he and Beyoncé shared, among other things, “the same vision of what is going on in the world…This is something really important,” he added. “[T]his is the future. This is making sure that these iconic moments talk to the young people. This is something important and this collaboration is talking to the new generation and saying you can get that piece, you can be a part of the history.”

“The donation was the main goal of this collaboration,” says Rousteing. “We don’t forget where we come from. This is really, really important—I come from an orphanage, you know. I think there is something really emotional about our collaboration.”

Balmain x Beyoncé will be available on July 13 at Balmain’s Paris flagship and from July 14 online and at select retailers.