Although she’s always been our icon, you could say Beyoncé has finally won it all: the CDFA Fashion Icon Award.
In her acceptance speech, Queen Bey gave an inspiring shoutout to her mother, grandmother and uncle, and explained how fashion has shaped her life.
“Many of you guys don’t know this, but my grandmother was a seamstress,” she revealed. “My mother actually designed my wedding dress, my prom dress, my CFDA Award dress, my first Grammy dress—the list goes on and on and on. And this to me is the true power and potential of fashion. It’s a tool for finding your own identity, expression… It transcends style and is a time capsule of all our greatest milestones.”
Bey was clear about how fashion has shaped both her career and the person she is today. “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,” she said. As her mother was “rejected from every showroom in New York,” she put her talents to use elsewhere. “My mother and my uncle, God rest his soul, made all of our first costumes, individually sewing hundreds of crystals and pearls, putting so much passion and love into every small detail. When I wore those clothes I felt like Khaleesi.”
Beyonce finished her speech with a powerful appeal to the strength of inner beauty. “Soul has no color, no shape, no form—just like all of your work it goes so far beyond what the eyes can see. You have the power to change perceptions—to inspire and empower, to show people how to embrace their complications and flaws and see the true beauty and strength that’s inside of us.”
Now that’s powerful. Queen, you inspire us every day.