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2.7 million. That’s how many people attended the 57-show Renaissance tour this year, during which Beyoncé averaged nine costume changes. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, set to resume in 2024, will see out next year with a total of 151 shows, bringing expected concertgoers upwards of 10 million. Swift averaged 13 outfits a night.
Many of those millions dressed up in silver for Beyoncé and in sparkles, red or metallic green for Swift, depending on which of her 10 eras they channelled. Financial services company Klarna tracked hundred-plus per cent increases in purchases for Renaissance and Eras-themed buys, such as beaded bracelets (226 per cent in March; Eras) and cowboy hats (959 per cent in June; Renaissance) in 2023. And for this, brands have the stars to thank. “It comes from the aesthetic the artist is putting out,” says Elizabeth Holmes, journalist and creator of the So Many Thoughts newsletter, which has released editions on Renaissance and Eras Tour fashion. “People got dressed up for Taylor because she gets dressed up for them. Same for Beyoncé.”
2023 was the year of the “great concert comeback”, cemented by Beyoncé and Swift’s economy-boosting shows driving new levels of consumer spend, according to The Future Labatory’s Future Forecast report. “Fandom fashion” was a top trend in Klarna’s The Checkout consumer trend review, driven by pop culture moments including Renaissance and Eras (and Barbie). Madonna, Blackpink, Harry Styles and Sza were also among the gigs that made a splash.
Amidst this, concert fashion played a larger role in the cultural conversation than in past years, fuelled by fashion magazines and TikTok on-stage outfit dissections “It’s the post-pandemic boom,” says Shana Honeyman, president of PR firm The Honeyman Agency, who works with brands on celebrity placements. “This year felt like the first in many since Covid hit that felt safe to go back to music venues and major concerts,” she says. “Major icons toured, giving people a sense of joy to see them in person after such a long break. Fashion plays a pivotal role in the fun and fantasy.”
Performers — and their stylists — are tapping big-name and emerging brands to outfit their extensive tour wardrobes. For the stars, it’s a way to entrench their positioning in fashion. For brands, the looks break out of industry circles, reaching far more people than the audience that’s tapped into red carpet appearances and Vogue articles. In essence, it’s a key to the tastes of the masses.
“A global tour like [Renaissance] is a culture-defining event,” says designer David Koma, who designed four looks for the Renaissance shows. “Especially now, having seen the tour film, you appreciate how special it is,” he says. “The creativity that goes into putting on a show like that across all the departments, it is not just amazing exposure but a wonderful cultural moment to be a part of.”
Brands have noticed an uptick in eyeballs. Dsquared2 designers Dean and Dan Caten have been working with artists on tour costuming for over 20 years. This year they designed a sparkly look for Beyoncé’s Renaissance: “We have for sure seen an increase in attention in recent years,” they say. “Even comparing the visibility on the look we created this year versus seven years ago [for] her Formation tour, there is a huge boom of attention on what the artists are wearing for their performances.”
Dressing the year’s top performers garners online attention. People are extra attuned to both Beyoncé and Swift’s outfits because of how little both speak out in public, Holmes says. “Everyone cares deeply about what these women wear,” she says. “On social media, everyone is decoding and dissecting… When you don’t hear much from someone, you look for clues they’re sending: their outfit takes on heightened importance.” But does this attention translate to brand clicks — and sales?
Virality versus sales
Outfitting these performers is a big deal even for heavyweight designers. Beyoncé in a Loewe catsuit is the sixth photo in the carousel that Loewe’s creative director Jonathan Anderson posted on Instagram following his Fashion Awards Designer of the Year win. Rihanna, who Anderson dressed for the Super Bowl halftime show, also featured.
For luxury houses, onstage placement is a gateway to the mainstream. Those working in — and attuned to — fashion may well have come across Loewe, Schiaparelli, Roberto Cavalli and Ashish. But your average consumer is less likely to be familiar with such names.
Take the Super Bowl. After Rihanna’s halftime performance in a Loewe breastplate and Alaïa coat, search interest for Loewe was up 1,556 per cent, and 488 per cent for Alaïa, according to Data But Make It Fashion’s analysis. A Swift or Beyoncé tour provides this level of exposure for longer than a year. “If you’re not totally clued in, you probably know Chanel, but you might not know some of these smaller, cooler upcoming luxury brands,” Holmes says. “For them to be associated with these musicians, it’s worth all the hurdles.”
For emerging designers, appearing onstage can be a game changer, Honeyman says. “The brand visibility in dressing performers on this level for an emerging designer can be career changing. It brings worldwide recognition, which in turn can bring sales.”
That said, the primary goal of concert dressing isn’t to sell, Honeyman continues. “I don’t think any brand big or small expects a major sales surge from stage dressing. However the iconic moment it can create for a brand is everlasting.”
Koma, who has worked with Beyoncé since she wore a piece from his 2009 graduate collection to the MTV EMAs, says this year’s reach is unprecedented. “The looks worn on the opening night specifically had very high visibility,” he says. “It felt like every news platform and all the fashion press covered the outfits by the next morning!” Koma’s Instagram following grew 53 per cent in the month following the opening night, and the Beyoncé looks are his highest-reaching and most-liked posts of the year.
Following Beyoncé’s performances in their designs, Dsquared2 also noted high engagement across social media sites as well as an influx of brand-focused user-generated content. “For us, the objective is not really about sales but about image and the exposure that comes from aligning with a major artist that looks good in our clothes and fits our aesthetic.”
The affordability element is also key: “Not every fan can afford a David Koma dress, so it’s not necessarily a direct link to sales,” Koma says, citing this as part of the logic behind his handbag launch. “I am hoping more brand fans would be able to transition into customers with a more affordable category.”
Some designers design pieces inspired by their runway looks, creating ties between the more extravagant renderings and purchasable pieces. Eagle-eyed viewers tend to make these links. This does translate to sales, Koma says. “The mother of pearl mesh print dress, the closest to what Beyoncé wore on stage, sold out on davidkoma.com that day.” He notes that it’s harder to measure the immediate conversion for custom pieces.
For smaller brands who want to build out the moment beyond an Instagram post, there is opportunity to market further around a concert look. Australian brand Bye Bambi dressed Jennie, Lisa and Jisoo for Blackpink’s Melbourne show after stylist Min Hee Park reached out via email. Bye Bambi uploaded TikTok vlogs of the process, and social media engagement skyrocketed; CEO Andi Short, who worked in marketing prior to founding the brand, attributes this to the Blackpink fan/wardrobe accounts that shared the outfit details.
Jennie wore the Sopha bodysuit and short set a week before the brand’s Sopha capsule was released. During that week, the Melbourne store was inundated with fans hoping to get their hands on a set, Short says. “Overall sales and interest improved significantly, not only for the Sopha set as worn by Jennie, but also for our signature loungewear sets that were worn by Lisa and Jisoo at the same time,” she says. In-store, Blackpink fans asked sales associates what set each member had worn, informing their purchase decisions.
Experts agree that the value of onstage is the “iconic moment”, as Honeyman dubs it, that this can create for a brand. For such a moment, the clothes need to stand out. This isn’t guaranteed, says EB Denim designer Elena Bonvicini, who has dressed celebrities including Justin Bieber and Sza onstage. “In my experience, street style celebrity placements have a much larger impact on ROI for both social media and sales,” Bonvicini says.
When Swift wore Los Angeles-based EB Denim to the VMAs afterparty, the dress sold out in under eight hours (and last week’s restock had a 5,000-strong waitlist). Bonvicini isn’t convinced an onstage moment would have had quite the same effect. In the concert context, a consumer’s focus is spread more thin, she says.
More wearable designs also drum up engagement. Ashish Gupta, of the eponymous label, created custom sequined slogan tees for various nights of the tour, reading “We are never getting back together. Like ever” and “Who’s Taylor Swift anyway? Ew”. They’re updated versions of his Spring/Summer 2013 collection tee that Swift wore in the ‘22’ music video. Commenters are keen to get their hands on a concert T-shirt: “Would love if you sold some of these,” one said. “Please sell them, we will pay anything and buy you out in an hour,” another chimed in (in all caps).
Will Gupta oblige? “I may do versions of it in 2024.”
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