Beyoncé makes headlines again in stage outfit that takes a swipe at US media

Cowboy hats were unusually in vogue in north London last week, as fans turned up in droves for Beyoncé’s first Cowboy Carter UK tour dates at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But while Beyoncé herself sported a plethora of Western-style hats during the show, it was a different onstage outfit that sparked interest among the fashion pack.

The pop legend had teamed up with Glenn Martens, creative director of Diesel, on a striking newspaper-print jumpsuit and hat. Her daughter, Blue Ivy, 13, was also seen performing in a matching ensemble.

The custom designs are a nod to the newspaper dress worn by Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw. Actor Jenna Ortega wore the dress, designed by John Galliano in 2000, for the premiere of her film Hurry Up Tomorrow last month.

Beyoncé’s newsprint accompanied her 2022 song America Has a Problem, with the song’s title in headline print across the outfit, under the masthead “The Echo”. The song takes a swipe at the US media’s addiction to the singer.

Newsprint and fashion have a long history, said fashion writer and cultural researcher J’Nae Phillips. “Newsprint in fashion has always carried a certain rebellious energy,” Phillips said. “Its return now is especially interesting [given] the climate we’re in. Designers may be using it as a way to play with ideas of truth, narrative control and media spectacle, especially when worn by someone like Beyoncé, whose every move generates headlines.”

Cowboy Carter and Beyoncé’s exploration of country music attracted a backlash from the right-wing press in the US.

In the moments before she appeared onstage, Beyoncé played a clip from former Fox News commentator Megyn Kelly: “Country music’s been around for a long, long time. It goes right to the heart of America, and most Americans in red states have been loving and enjoying it long before Queen Bey decided to stick her big toe into the lane.”

There’s a long history of newsprint-inspired clothing, said fashion writer and trend analyst Tony Glenville, starting with designs from Schiaparelli in 1935.

Elsa Schiaparelli’s Stop, Look and Listen collection featured newsprint, specifically press clippings about herself, a move some interpreted as shade on her fashion rivals – Coco Chanel was regularly disparaging about Schiaparelli, calling her “that Italian artist who makes clothes” in the press.

Inspired also by women at Copenhagen fish markets, who wore newspaper twisted into makeshift headwear, Schiaparelli had a patchwork of newspaper clippings printed onto cotton and silk and turned them into headscarves, blouses and other accessories. Celebrities in the headlines at the time were attracted to the designs – Josephine Baker wore a headscarf from the collection, while Salvador Dalí wore a jacket.

The spirit of this has continued through different trends. “Graffiti and slogans and words have been a huge thread in fashion,” said Glenville. “[With] Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and many others using poetry or mottos.”

Glenville points to the Italian fashion editor Anna Piaggi too, who, when launching publication Fashion Algebra in 1998, sported a dress made to look like the pages of a giant book.

The controversial designer John Galliano – no stranger to news headlines himself, thanks to accusations of antisemitism – splashed “Christian Dior Daily” across Sarah Jessica Parker’s torso when she wore the dress on Sex and the City.

Galliano said he was inspired by Schiaparelli’s designs.

“It’s also interesting that it’s Glenn Martens who will show his first Margiela Couture in July, following on from Galliano,” who was formerly at Margiela, said Glenville.

Phillips said the trend is also part of a wider 00s resurgence and nostalgia.

“There’s a sense of early-2000s revival happening across fashion more broadly,” she said.

Photographs by Instar Images/WireImage