A weekday trip to the cinema is typically a low-key affair. But with Friday afternoon came the first showing of Beyoncé’s Renaissance film. Encouraged by the star herself, fans – commonly known as the Beyhive – wore outfits featuring silver (the signature colour of the tour), cowboy hats and concert merch. Following in the footsteps those who watched Barbie and Taylor Swift’s Eras film, they were the latest set of fans this year to head to the cinema dressed up to the nines.
Oscar Parker, a 17-year-old student, wore a silver puffer jacket and matching trousers, while Aoife O’Brien – less of a superfan – wore a cowboy hat, tracksuit trousers and a corset “in support” of her friend. Parker said he liked the “sense of community when everyone’s dressing up”.
Anisa Finta, a 30-year-old currency trader, was a vision in the silver outfit she created especially for the film debut. “We’re bored of jeans and regular clothes. We want to look and dress the part. [Beyoncé is] the person to get us to dress up.”
The more low-key fans also made an effort. Aoife Kenny, a 24-year-old performer in the musical Frozen, wore a green hoodie she bought at the concert in June. “This isn’t early but we work at night so it is early to me,” she said. “I wore the merch because you have to pay your respects.” Effie Privi, a 30-year-old customer service agent who was wearing a T-shirt with Beyoncé on it, described going to see the film as “the Met Gala for the Beyhive”.
Dressing up for the cinema has been around for a while. Screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which have long been a dressing-up occasion, remain popular. More recently, Secret Cinema has encouraged fans of films such as Dirty Dancing and Bugsy Malone to dress as their favourite characters. For Barbie this summer, hordes of cinemagoers dressed in shades of pink.
With concert films, however, there is a visual feedback loop, with fans dressing up to watch fans on film, and also relive their experience at the concert. For Eras, Taylor Swift fans had instructions from their idol. In an Instagram post about the film, she wrote: “Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged.”
Beyoncé, speaking at the London premiere on Thursday night, also encouraged her fans to dress up. They took the cue. Tyler Turrell, a 25-year-old shop assistant, bought a silver jacket from Bershka to see the film. He said Beyoncé pioneered the focus on fan outfits this year. “She’s the first for everything,” he said.
Dressing up is spreading beyond London. Nerrisa Pratt, who runs the Bargello Edit craft website, recreated the “hand jumpsuit” worn by Beyoncé. She will wear it when she goes to see the film in Oxford next weekend, “but with some tweaks because it’s winter. I got a full-length fur coat from a charity shop so I’ll wear that.”
Pratt has seen the rise of dressing up to go to the cinema and sees it as part of a wider yearning for more everyday activities becoming extra-special. “To dress up to go to the cinema makes it more than just a film, it’s an experience,” she says, describing the film as potentially like a “reunion” for those at the concert.
There is commercial advantage that comes with connecting with a fanbase. The department store Flannels is following up the in-store merch pop-up that it held for the Renaissance tour with a similar event for the film release. Launching in the London, Sheffield and Liverpool stores on Friday, a 16-piece collection will be on sale.
“The Beyhive is a hugely engaged fan group – which of course we knew – but it was still overwhelming to see consistent queues down Oxford Street earlier this year,” said Beckie Stanion, the Flannels chief marketing officer. Similar crowds – pre-cinema trips – snaked down the shopping street on Friday, with more than 150 people there by 8am.
