Every celebrity has a brand now, or at least that’s how it seems. Take a gander at a famous person, A-List to Z, on social media and the chances are they’ll have a post or six shilling their skincare range, tequila, or collaboration with a fast fashion company. Nobody, regardless of wealth or status, is exempt from the necessity of a side-hustle. Not even Beyoncé. One of the true (alien) superstars of our time, the singer recently revealed a collaboration with the couture brand Balmain. This came hot off the heels of the announcement that her athleisure line, Ivy Park, would be parting ways with Adidas. Reports had noted that the brand was not doing as well as anticipated, with Forbes detailing that sales fell more than 50% in 2022 and that overall revenue had heavily decreased.

RENAISSANCE COUTURE
by @Beyonce x @Balmain https://t.co/wH4f79jAhU pic.twitter.com/SPQ50f0vKB

— Balmain (@Balmain) March 24, 2023

It’s worth remembering that most celebrity brands fail. Indeed, most brands as a whole fail because capitalism is a ruthless mistress and the competition is always overloaded with better and/or cheaper options. Celebrities are eager to get into the world of side hustles because, when it pays off, it reaps the kinds of dividends that acting gigs and concert tours can never hope to offer. Rihanna didn’t become a billionaire through her albums. Ryan Reynolds’ fortune isn’t from Deadpool. Yet they are part of a handful of exceptions to the rule. For every Fenty Beauty or Skims, there’s a slew of brands that shuttered, went bankrupt, or quietly disappeared from the world. Kylie Jenner couldn’t make Kylie Swim work, even with a successful make-up line behind her. Lady Gaga’s Haus Laboratories required a major rehaul to save itself from closure. We could be here all day listing the restaurants owned by celebrities that littered Los Angeles before going into ruin after mere months.

What makes Beyoncé so unique as a celebrity is the way she has cultivated an image of absolute perfection without having to be reliant on the expected channels of media and publicity. She famously doesn’t give tons of interviews, she doesn’t need to promote her singles on talk shows or at awards ceremonies, and nobody expects her to do TikTok memes or Instagram Live chats with her fans. Ms. Knowles-Carter comes and goes as she pleases, dropping an album in its entirety with as much or little fanfare as she desires. If any other musician were to be as long in dropping their promised album visuals as she has been for Renaissance then we’d hear whispers of a crisis. For Beyoncé, it’s just another day at the office, a symbol of her business ethos. You get what you’re given and everyone is so thankful for it. That’s a philosophy that basically nobody else can get away with in 2023, when relatability and online approachability are the default mode of fame. Frankly, it sounds like the ideal to me, to be able to tap out on intrusive questioning or social media obligations. But how do you promote a business while maintaining this border around yourself?

Ivy Park was always a fascinating pivot for Beyoncé, one that raised more than a few eyebrows. She explained that she hoped the brand would ‘push the boundaries of athletic wear and to support and inspire women who understand that beauty is more than your physical appearance’ when it was announced, initially as a collaboration with Topshop. Soon, the drops of new items became social media sensations, as seen of celebrities like Angela Bassett, Kerry Washington, and Gucci Mane. Yet fans consistently expressed disappointment in being unable to actually buy the line, which sold out quickly and often ended up on reseller sites for exorbitant prices. Beyoncé may be defined by her luxuriousness, but that doesn’t work so well when your own product becomes such a status symbol that most of your own fans can’t even get it.

Beyoncé is about unattainable perfection, and selling that to the masses as aspirational defeats the purpose of her entire image. It’s not impossible to package that for profit, but it’s a fine line to tread. The most glamorous brands and business ventures that celebrities tend to flock towards are often money pits, especially fashion lines. High fashion, in particular, is exceedingly tough to make money in. Look at how it took over a decade for Victoria Beckham’s eponymous brand to finally report earnings in the black. That didn’t come from the high-priced clothes either, but the accessories and make-up, which are more accessible to the general customer. One of the reasons Ryan Reynolds is so prized for his side-hustle prowess is because he invests wisely in things with universal appeal, such as alcohol and mobile phone networks. Mint Mobile recently sold to T-Mobile in an astonishing $1.35 billion deal, of which he reportedly pocketed around $300 million. That’s not something a lot of celebrities can hope to replicate, but it does carve a path forward in terms of how and why. They can’t all be skincare lines.

It’s no personal slight against Beyoncé that Ivy Park isn’t the ceaseless money-maker Adidas had hoped it would be. Rather, it’s a reminder that perfection is not eternal, and the terrors of the marketplace spare nobody. It makes more sense in many ways for Beyoncé to just sit out the celeb side-hustle panic. Clearly, she’s loaded and has made savvy investments alongside Jay-Z. Brand endorsements with Tiffany’s fit with her image of highly manicured luxury far more than athleisure. The option that fits her most neatly in my mind is something in that realm of abundance, like a high-level fashion house, but that’s maybe the toughest field to succeed in not even Rihanna could make that work. But clearly she sees something special in Balmain that can work with her image. Ivy Park will move to another company. There’s no reason she can’t eventually mould it into the next Jessica Simpson line.