In case you missed it, earlier this week, Beyoncé was honored with the Fashion Icon Award at the 2016 CFDA Awards. While it’s no surprise that the entertainer whose iconic style has inspired a variety of trends walked away with the honor, the pop star revealed it’s actually her mother, Tina Knowles, who inspires her ever evolving look.
“I feel so much love and I feel so proud,” said Bey. “As long as I can remember, fashion has been part of my life. Its effect on me actually started before I was born. Many of you guys don’t know this, but my grandmother was a seamstress. My grandparents did not have enough money. They could not afford my mother’s Catholic school tuition. So my grandmother sewed clothes for the priests and the nuns and made the uniforms for the students in exchange for my mother’s education. She then passed this gift down to my mother and taught her how to sew.”
She continued, “When we were starting out in Destiny’s Child, high-end labels didn’t really want to dress four black country curvy girls, and we couldn’t afford designer dresses and couture. My mother was rejected from every showroom in New York. But, like my grandmother, she used her talent and creativity to give her children their dreams. My mother and my uncle, God bless his soul, designed all of our first costumes and made each piece by hand, individually sewing hundreds of crystals and pearls, putting so much passion and love into every small detail. When I wore these clothes onstage, I felt like Khaleesi. I had an extra suit of armor. It was so much deeper than any brand name.”
In fact, Knowles designed Beyoncé’s wedding dress, prom dress, first CFDA Award dress, and her first Grammy dress. In honor of some of Bey’s recent accolade, we’ve complied a gallery of her most iconic looks, from the red carpet to the stage to her best street style looks. Enjoy.
