Beyoncé continues venture into clothing market with Icy Park collection

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Courtesy of Ivy Park

M'Niyah Lynn

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter released her third collection of Ivy Park named Icy Park in partnership with sportswear apparel brand Adidas,  available on  Feb. 19 online and Feb. 20 in select stores.

Ivy Park is Knowles-Carter’s athleisure clothing brand which she owns through her management company Parkwood Entertainment. The clothing brand was first introduced to the public in March 2016.

The Icy Park andAdidas collaboration was announced on Jan. 24. The collection was winter-themed and, like her other two collections, had accessories, shoes and a variety of clothing options to pick from. The collection offered a range of products from monogrammed tights and crop tops to branded face masks and track jackets. Over 40 various items in the collection sold out on the Adidas website by Feb. 23.

Knowles-Carter’s success with Adidas is one of the recent examples of how  artists have been intersecting with other creative industries. Like Knowles-Carter, many celebrities have been using their personal brands to dip into fashion.

Fellow musician Cardi B worked with Reebok on sneaker collections and Megan Thee Stallion recently collaborated with Fashion Nova on a clothing collection.

When celebrity brand endorsements and partnerships occur, it influences consumers’ perception of the worth of thematerial items. Brands may become more popular or recognizable because of a celebrity’s following. In fact, Knowles-Carter’s first two collections with Adidas, Ivy Park and Drip 2, both sold out quickly.

Ivy Park was so popular that the pre-sale launch on the Adidas website sold out within hours, while its main launch sold out in about six minutes. The website also crashed many times because of site traffic.

“Keep your eyes peeled because if you know anything about an Adidas x Ivy Park release then you know it is guaranteed to sell out within minutes, if not seconds,” Teen Vogue said.

Adidas can contribute some of this success to Carter’s popularity in pop culture where she is “probably the most influential female entertainer in the world today,” Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted said, according to CNN.

Celebrities also give the product a high sense of worth because the celebrity becomes associated with the brand. Consumers tend to gravitate towards the material items that are good enough for the celebrity, making it good enough for them too, Forbes mentioned.

According to Investopedia, celebrities influence consumers’ self-worth and have the ability to make something that is inexpensive become expensive.

In promotion for the Icy Park collection, Knowles-Carter utilized other celebrities to help boost sales. She added new faces to the campaign like Gucci Mane, Hailey Bieber and Kaash Paige. She also sent out pieces from the collection to celebrities like Taraji P. Henson, Megan Thee Stallion and Missy Elliott.

“Beyoncé I love you so much,” and “I’m gonna be so fly,” Henson said in a video posted on her Instagram. Elliott modeled the clothes in a short video on Twitter.

Fans have also supported the launch. “I know my bank account mad as hell at me but a bitch got her Ivy Park #IcyPark,” one Twitter user wrote.

Sometimes, celebrities offer something that helps broaden the market. The Icy Park line has items available in sizes from XXXS to 4X and they offer clothes that can be used for all genders, Adidas said.

Additionally, celebrity endorsements can make advertisements appear more believable.

However, if a product becomes too widely available, it may harm business because experts believe that the goal of making products is to sell out.

For instance, Kanye West’s Yeezy sneakers were selling more when it was harder to get them. “They put too many pairs in the market and nearly killed it off,” athletic apparel industry expert Matt Powell said, according to CNN. He agrees that scarcity drives demand, so making products widely available makes consumers “kind of lose interest.”

Considering that music artists are expanding their portfolios with fashion deals, it is expected to see an overlap into other industries like makeup and food. Jennifer Lopez created JLO Beauty, Rihanna created Fenty Beauty and Selena Gomez created Rare Beauty. Outside of the beauty industry artists like Travis Scott even partnered with McDonald’s.