After a successful collaboration that saw the relaunch of her athleisure brand Ivy Park in 2018, Beyoncé and Adidas have parted ways. According to sources, the split was mutual and due to creative differences between Ivy Park and Adidas. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Beyoncé was eager to maintain creative freedom and chart her own path.
During the partnership, Ivy Park released several collections, with the first launching in April 2019. The brand launched a massive PR campaign involving closet-sized traffic-cone-orange boxes being sent to celebrities including Missy Elliott, Cardi B, Kendall Jenner, Angela Bassett, Ciara, Reese Witherspoon, and Hailey Bieber. However, Ivy Park apparently did not live up to the hype Adidas was anticipating when they initially promised Beyoncé “guaranteed annual fees and creative control.”
Adidas expected Ivy Park to perform similarly to Ye’s Yeezy brand, producing hundreds of millions in revenue. However, Ivy Park releases undersold, with roughly half of the merchandise from five of the six releases remaining on shelves. There were also differences in strategy between Adidas and Ivy Park when it came to marketing, with Adidas pushing for their own branding.
Despite the split, Beyoncé has much to look forward to, with her upcoming Renaissance World Tour set to kick off in May. The mega-tour has already caused mayhem among fans eager to see the superstar IRL and will begin in Stockholm, spanning dates throughout Europe and North America.
