Jailyn Poindexter on Designing for Beyonce’s ‘Black Is King’
Black is King is an awe-inspiring celebration of Black empowerment. Written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé, the visual album depicts the true story of The Lion King and features songs from The Gift soundtrack. Fans are fawning over the visual album’s focus on Africa’s beauty, its untold stories, music from legendary African singer Solomon Linda, Beyoncé’s timely lyrics, her celebrity guests, and of course, the outfits she wore. One of my favorite celebrity appearances and looks was Queen Bey’s mother, Mrs. Tina Lawson. She looked regal in a fuchsia pink suit as she had high tea in the garden with Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland.
Jailyn Poindexter is the young, Los Angeles-based designer and creative architect behind the pink fuchsia Renai suit for Eaupri. I reached out to Poindexter about her process for creating the stunning look, what it’s like to work with Beyoncé and her stylist Zerina Akers and how she feels about her recent accomplishments.
Tell me about your fashion brand Eaupri and how you got into designing?
I’ve been designing for as long as I can remember and always said I would be an artist as a kid. As I got older, I just gravitated toward fashion. I’ve always loved how a look can speak for you before you even address someone and have been interested in testing the limits of that conversation. In school, I was constantly experimenting with different draping and dyeing techniques that have led me to my more avant garde design aesthetic now.
Eaupri has been years in the making, and while I haven't been able to release any of my other more dramatic pieces like the Renai suit yet, I was inspired by current events to put out a mini collection of loungewear that I’m obsessed with. Every piece is simple, has a touch of my flair for dramatics and so comfortable it should be criminal. Right now, the brand is moving in the direction of marrying fantasy with reality. On the RTW end, seeing how much fantasy can be snuck into a design before it’s too much and on the couture side seeing at what point clothes aren’t clothes anymore and become sculpture or just something else entirely.
You were responsible for Beyoncé’s mother, Mrs. Tina Lawson’s look. It was absolutely stunning. Please tell me the details of the Renai suit and your inspiration behind the design.
The base of the Renai suit is made from a stretch satin and the “winged” pieces in the front where all the volume comes from are layers of silk charmeuse and organza that have been draped around the front of the body to allow for lightness while still holding shape.
My inspiration behind the design came to me while I was in school. It was a design that I had always wanted to do and I was hesitant about even pitching it because my professors had deemed it too difficult for me to do for my senior project. For some reason, I knew as soon as I pitched the drape, that would be the one that was chosen. So I did it anyway and just decided regardless of how others felt about my ability, I was going to figure it out and do it justice. My senior collection was about the journey of rebirth, so my silhouettes were inspired by butterflies at different stages of metamorphosis. The Renai suit is the final stage. It’s that moment when you break out of your cocoon and are this completely new, fully formed being. Still very much yourself, but with a new confidence and assuredness that wasn’t present in the same way before. The name Renai I pulled from the word Renaissance. To me, the piece represents a rebirth of the self; waking up and remembering yourself and the power that you hold simply by getting up everyday and existing as you are, no apologies, no hiding, just truth.
The Renai is so regal. So was the headpiece. Did you design it too?
No.
What was the experience like getting a call from Beyoncé’s team? How was working with her stylist Zerina Akers?
I actually have been working for Destiney over at d.bleu.dazzled since 2018 when I graduated and moved to LA. I had just worked on the du rags and bodysuits that weren’t used for the Spirit video back in July. So in September, Zerina came into the studio to pull looks for Find Your Way Back and ended up asking who did the sewing and patterning in the studio. I told her I did. We went over the concept and I did some sample drapes and sketches for her over the weekend. From there, I got fabric approvals and got to work. I was super stressed the whole time. I started off at the studio at around 6 a.m. (Destiney let me use the space for both projects) and worked until my official work day started at 11 a.m. I would get off around 6 p.m. and went back to working on the piece. I did that for about 3 days before I realized I would never finish if I wasn’t able to work for as long as I needed. So I started working around the clock to finish the suit. I finished the day they were shooting, brought the piece to set and that was a wrap.
The process was challenging, but rewarding. I feel like I’ve learned a lifetime's worth of lessons from this one project. Working with Zerina was great. There’s a level of trust she approached the project with that gave me even more confidence in my ability and design choices. After our initial concept meetings, I sent a couple of progress shots. But otherwise, I was really given the freedom to really express myself through the piece which I love as a designer.
I love the du-rags featured in the production. It’s a Black staple that I’m seeing more TV designers use. The color really popped in Black Is King. What was the inspiration and how many du-rags did you make in total for the guys?
Honestly, I didn't know anything about the durags until I got the call. I had made maybe 20 bodysuits that were supposed to get used for the Spirit music video over the weekend and dropped them off to set at midnight on the Monday they were supposed to shoot. I was running errands before work when her team contacted me asking if I would be able to make the durags in the next few hours and I just said sure. They’re super easy to make, so me and Destiney’s assistant got set up to where she was pinning and cutting the durags for me as I was on the machine sewing the ones that had already been cut.
Awesome work, Jailyn! I wish you so much continued success and a life beyond your wildest dreams.
