You may know (and love) Solange for her own dreamy and atmospheric music, but throughout this month, the star branched out with one of her most ambitious and expansive artists projects to date, all hosted in her native city of Houston, Texas. Dubbed “The Eldorado Ballroom,” the series kicked off in Brooklyn a few years back, and the star worked with her multidisciplinary creative group Saint Heron to host live, avant-garde performances across a number of different mediums. (The performances took place at different venues in Houston, including at the historic Eldorado Ballroom, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Brown Auditorium Theater, and Jones Hall.)
“The Eldorado Ballroom series was inspired by a venue a Black couple built and programmed in my childhood neighborhood, the Third Ward in Houston, in 1939,” Solange tells Vogue. “It was historic in that it was one of the few safe spaces for Black musical artists in Houston to perform during a time when there were not many options. It hosted performances by legends like Duke Ellington and Ray Charles, but also put on more obscure performances by snake charmers and zydeco. It was a real hub for the community, and also hosted beauty pageants and meetings for the Black Muslim community of Houston before they built their own mosque.”
Knowing the special history of the venue, Solange wanted to create a series that continued its legacy of spotlighting and uplifting Black artists—especially women—across categories. “I always say anything new that you think you have done, a Black woman probably did it before you a century ago,” says Solange. “That reflects in so much of the reason Saint Heron created this series. As a curator, I am constantly thinking of all these themes and nuances through connections we share as Black women artists, and how that carries through generationally. I’m also thinking about voices and stories who I feel deserve to be amplified.”
To do so, the Eldorado Ballroom included over seven nights of programming, and featured a variety of different artists include organist Dominique Johnson, DJ CRYSTALLMESS, saxophonist Angélla Christie, and pianist Artina McCain—among many other impressive talents. “We started with ‘On Dissonance,’ which celebrated Black women composers in classical music,” says Solange. From there, other evenings included ‘Paper in My Shoe,” a night focused on Black women in folk and Zydeco; and ‘Monuments Are Here,’ a film night that explored Black films “that hone in on Black domesticity and our collection of sacred objects.” A personal favorite of Solange’s, meanwhile, was ‘Glory to Glory’—an evening that featured “women from all facets of expression who devote their work to God and spirituality.”
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Naturally, as a musician herself, Solange also performed as part of the ongoing series. The star presented two of her own classical works, ‘Villanelle For Times’—her score for The New York City Ballet’s Playtime—and ‘Not Necessarily in Arms Reach,’ her orchestral piece for two tubas. “It was really beautiful to experience people’s connection to these works,” says Solange. “I’ve always been a composer, and have written music for brass and piano in my more contemporary and pop work—but the evolution into more classical orchestral works has been both some of the most proud, yet vulnerable work I’ve ever created. To not have the distraction of lyrics, or the voice, and dance. It’s taken me a while to stand firmly in that this is who I am right now, who I want to express, and be unapologetic about that.”
Equally as intentional as the programming, was Solange’s approach to fashion. Given she had several nights to dress up for as the host and lead visionary, she brought in a stellar team to dream up a thoughtful and striking wardrobe. She worked with stylist Danielle Goldberg and creative director Akeem Smith on her sleek, sculptural looks—by labels such as Ferragamo (a main supporter of the event), Calvin Klein Collection, Mowalola, Gabriela Hearst, Loewe, and Comme des Garçons.
Solange kicked off the series with a custom look by Ferragamo: an espresso-colored nappa leather dress. “Nothing feels more Houston to me than brown buttery leather,” says Solange. “The neckline, shape, and architecture of the piece reminded me so much of some of the early costumes my mother [Tina Knowles] used to make for Destiny’s Child.” She, designer Maximilan Davis, and stylist Goldberg ideated the ensemble for months. “[I wanted] a piece that encapsulated the elegance and seriousness I want to present myself as as a composer, yet to be honest, I’m always gonna need a little tiny bit of thottyness, too,” says Solange. “I don’t ever want to let these spaces and my role in them make me ever negotiate with having to lose parts of myself in the way I show up. It was very much giving Lydia Tar ain’t got shit on me in my custom Ferragamo thigh-high slit, okay?!”
Other favorite looks throughout the series? There was the custom Calvin Klein Collection suiting she wore for her film-themed night. “The minimalism and slipper really spoke to how I show up most commonly in the world everyday,” says Solange. For her ‘Paper In My Shoe’ evening, Solange “enjoyed being a stunt queen and changing through the night. One look by Hodakova, the craftsmanship was so insane with all these sewn-on buttons.” There was also a draped viscose and cashmere Loewe dress, which was “so sexy and ethereal and very me” and a more colorful vintage Comme des Garçons dress. “I tried to invite some color and exaggerated silhouettes as a nod to 2010 me. But I will say, it did take Akeem hyping me up a lil bit!”
Solange admits the fashion was secondary to planning out all of the various performances and themed evenings. Still, she had fun dressing-up, and continues to treat style as a form of performance art. This, she says, is different than standard red carpet dressing. “I’ve really resisted the idea of red carpets over the past six years, because I think the whole function of using that as a tool for promotion is really just about how I look,” says Solange. “I love the art of dressing and looking fly—and how fun and careless that can be—but I can’t say at this present moment I love participating in a formal platform where that is the sole purpose. Eldorado is so much fun for me with fashion, because I get to both fulfill a purpose of crafting and executing an idea, and then coming up with a look that connects to that idea and enhances how I feel at the end of the night.”
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It was certainly a lot of theatrical and forward-thinking designs to pack into a singular month. So coming up, Solange says you can find her going back to her signature style for a little while. “I’m still pretty grounded in minimalism,” she says of her day-to-day style. “I’m also a comfort girly—gone are the days she’s getting stuck in a zipper. I used to do any and everything for a look, and that was fun times, but now, I need to be able to do my job well, first and foremost, and a lot of that requires ease.” Given her birthday is today, she has a special outfit in mind. “I’ll probably be in hiking clothes the next two weeks, on a mountain somewhere,” she says. Goals.
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