Add Beyoncé to the list of collaboration woes for Adidas. According to reports from The Hollywood Reporter and TMZ, Adidas ended its partnership with Beyoncé and shuttered the Ivy Park athleisure line.
The dissolution was reportedly due to creative differences between Adidas and Ivy Park, with female pop star excited to “reclaim her brand, chart her own path and maintain creative freedom,” said The Hollywood Reporter.
In 2018, Adidas partnered with Beyoncé to bring her Ivy Park line to the brand.
This February, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Ivy Park line was $200 million below Adidas’ annual projections, based on comments from people familiar with the numbers and reports they were provided at the time.
Forbes followed up on the WSJ report in February and an Adidas spokesperson told Forbes its assumptions about Ivy Park are “not correct.” Forbes reported that the partnership with Ivy Park is “strong and successful” and it continues “to be inspired by our collective vision and are proud of the work we have created together.”
Adidas responded to SGB Media‘s outreach on the story in February with a standard quote.
“Our partnership is strong and successful,” the company suggested to SGB Media in an email response. “As part of our valued strategic partnership with lvy Park, we continue to be inspired by our collective vision and are proud of the work we have created together. As a matter of principle, we do not disclose key financial figures for individual product categories.”
According to the February WSJ article, the Adidas x Ivy Park collection produced roughly $40 million in sales in 2022, down from $93 million in 2021. Adidas had projected the line would do $250 million in sales in 2022. The report suggested that Adidas is losing $10 million a year on the line while Beyoncé is still earning $20 million a year from the deal.
Adidas is apparently forecasting the Ivy Park line would do $63 million in sales in 2023. The latest collection Adidas x Beyoncé Park Trails was set for a late February launch.
The WSJ reported that Adidas had hoped to replicate the success it had with Kanye West’s since-canceled Yeezy brand but Adidas and Beyoncé’s team reportedly disagreed on how to market the brand. Sources also reportedly told the WSJ that Beyoncé did not appear as often as West wearing her own line in paparazzi shots, though she did appear in advertisements.
Forbes reported that Beyoncé first launched Ivy Park as an activewear collection with Topshop in 2016. In 2018, she purchased full ownership of the brand. The next year, Adidas collaborated with her on the brand.
The contract between Adidas and Ivy Park ends after 2023.
Photo courtesy Adidas x Ivy Park
