House of Deréon
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The House of Deréon is a ready-to-wear fashion line introduced by singer and actress Beyoncé Knowles and her mother/stylist Tina Knowles. The style and concept is inspired by three generations of women in their Creole family, with the name "Deréon" paying tribute to Beyoncé's grandmother, Agnèz Deréon. House of Deréon is not to be confused with the junior line of Deréon, both are from the Knowleses.
Expanding the brand, Beyonce and her sister Solange Knowles launched the junior line Deréon that is geared towards younger consumers and is more reasonably priced. Deréon was introduced in 2006. The tag line for Deréon is "Where the sidewalk and catwalk meet". This line includes more casualwear, such as sweatpants and embroidered hooded sweatshirts. Both women are models for both clothing lines and are featured on most marketing campaigns. In 2007, members of Beyoncé's touring band, Suga Mama appeared in print ads.
House of Deréon was announced to the media in September 2004, by Tina and Beyoncé Knowles. House of Deréon's tagline is "Couture.Kick.Soul" which represents the three generation of women. Agnèz Deréon is the "soul," Tina Knowles is the "couture," and Beyonce is the "kick." While Beyoncé was performing in the group Destiny's Child, her mother Tina would design and sew their outfits, especially when the group was first starting out and did not have much money or access to designer clothing. Part of what called attention to Destiny's Child, besides their obvious talent, was their one-of-a-kind fashions. Their style set them apart, yet gave the group cohesion as a similar style, color or garment was worn by all the members.
The fashion line was first introduced on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and was also featured on The Tyra Banks Show. The clothing mixes hip-hop influences, such as its use of denim, with ultrafeminine flourishes like embroidery and ruffles. In an interview with Ebony magazine Beyoncé said "I love the clothes from the '70s, my mother's clothes. I love clothes from the '40s, my grandmother's style, so elegant. We wanted to take elements from my grandmother's legacy--the beaded lace, lush colors, fine fabrics--and mix them with clothes from my mother's generation and my generation." [1]
Often featured, such as on the back pockets of jeans, is the agu (this is often confused with the fleur de lis which is commonly featured on the back pockets of Deréon jeans (introduced in 2006 see http://www.dereon.com , House of Deréon's junior line.) Additionally in the line's design are styles that allude to Agnèz Deréon's era, such as retro pencil skirts. It is reported that Beyoncé has an active role in the House of Deréon's design department, approving and discussing fashion designs and ideas. As for the line's latest venture, Beyonce and her mom have designed a collection of vintage-inspired dresses that will be available at Bloomingdale's. The line is based on the 50's-style dresses that Beyonce wore for her role as Etta James in the film Cadillac Records.[2]
Beyoncé also mentions the clothing line in the song Get Me Bodied, from the album B'Day, and in her hit single Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), from the 2008 album I Am... Sasha Fierce.
Controversy
In May 2008, the fashion line released advertisements for its girls line called "The Deréon Girls Collection". The fashion line infuriated critics when the advertisement displayed seven-year-old girls in full makeup and high heels. Conservative critic Michelle Malkin has given the most intense criticism of the advertisement invoking JonBenet Ramsey's image and dubbing the child models as "Little Girls Gone Wild", also adding "...Beyonce launched a girls clothing line that makes Miley Cyrus's bare-backed glam session look like a Shirley Temple photo shoot." A poll online on the Washington Post website has stated that 62% of the readers believe the advertisements oversexualize young girls.[3]
Agnèz Deréon
Agnèz Deréon, later Agnèz Beyincé (1924 – 1984) was a French Créole Louisiana native whose surname and passion for creating beauty from the mundane is the inspiration for the clothing line House of Deréon.
Agnèz Deréon (actually born Agnès DeRouen), (pronounced dare-ay-on or duh-RAHN) was born on July 1, 1924 in Delcambre, New Iberia, Louisiana, the daughter of Eugène Gustave "Eugenie" DeRouen (1884-1940) and Odilia Broussard. Self-taught, she became a well known seamstress catering to private clients in Louisiana. She was accustomed[citation needed] to tailoring pieces that stood out by decorating the fabrics she used with such embellishments as embroidery, aplliques and smocking. Incorporating materials such as lace, beads and jeweled buttons, were just some of the ingredients that Deréon used to make her style unique, according to the House of Deréon website.
Deréon later married Lumis Albert Beyincé of Abbéville, Louisiana, the son of Alexandre Beyincé and Marie Olivier. The couple relocated to Galveston, Texas where they raised their family (some of the Beyincé relatives still live in Galveston). Both Beyincé and her husband were of French-speaking Creole (or French Creole) descent of mixed African-American, French, Native-American, Spanish ancestries.
The Beyincé family was poor, yet upwardly mobile.[citation needed] The couple made many sacrifices to see that their children matriculated through private school and received a proper education. In an interview with Ebony magazine, Tina recalls that her mother made altar boy robes and other garments for the church so her children could attend Catholic schools.
Among the couple's children are: Tina Knowles and an unnamed brother. Their grandchildren are Beyoncé Knowles and Solange Knowles, Angela Beyincé, Chantelle Beyincé and great-grandson Daniel Juelz Smith Jr., Solange's son with Daniel Smith.
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