Beyonce wears a unique plastic bodysuit from Brisbane designer Bethany Cordwell for Renaissance album

An emerging Brisbane designer has landed a major career boost after Beyonce wore her unique bodysuit, made out of plastic document folders, to promote her new album

An emerging Queensland designer has landed a career coup, dressing music superstar Beyonce in a bodysuit crafted out of plastic document folders.

Bethany Cordwell, who works as a costumier for Queensland Ballet in Brisbane, was stunned on Friday when she discovered Beyonce had shared an image wearing her design as part of the release of her anticipated album, Renaissance.

Image from Beyonce’s Renaissance album. She is wearing a body suit designed by Brisbane designer Bethany Cordwell. Photo: Supplied

The black and white bodysuit was part of Cordwell’s Warped Observance collection.

It took the designer one month to make using 12,000 scale shaped pieces she’d cut from plastic folders by hand before morphing them into the figure-hugging design.

“I couldn’t believe it. It still doesn’t feel real,” Cordwell said. “She looks incredible in my bodysuit and earrings.”

In November Cordwell won the emerging designer award during Victorian Racing Club’s Myer Fashions On Your Front Lawn competition, submitting a similar design made from the document folders she’d purchased from Officeworks, where she used to work casually while studying in Brisbane.

Earlier this year, Cordwell, who was preparing for work at Queensland Ballet, was then contacted by Beyonce’s styling team asking for the bodysuit from her collection.

Brisbane designer Bethany Cordwell works as a costumier at Queensland Ballet.

“The initial email came through as I was getting ready for what I thought was going to be just another day at work,” she said,

“I was in absolute shock … I quickly replied and we started discussing further details instantly.”

“The lead time was tight. I wasn’t able to make a custom bodysuit specific to Beyonce’s measurements due to time constraints. Thankfully they accepted my existing bodysuit which was sent express to LA (Los Angeles).”

It wasn’t until Beyonce released her album and its accompanying images on Friday that Cordwell discovered her design had made it to the final product.

Cordwell won the emerging designer award in the Victorian Racing Club’s Myer Fashions On Your Front Lawn competition in November with a pink and black design,

She has since been featured in fashion publications globally, including British Vogue, Dazed and Grazia, while the image is also being used on Apple Music and iTunes in a major boost for her career.

“I was surrounded by incredibly excited dancers, costume department team and other Queensland Ballet staff who were all so lovely and supportive towards me and my exciting news,” she said.

“To be sharing this moment alongside incredible designers who I have looked up to my whole life is truly unbelievable.”

With a passion for design and creativity at high school, Cordwell moved to Brisbane from Mackay to study design and fashion at QUT, graduating in 2018.

She has been creating costumes at Queensland Ballet since 2019 and had already designed for the likes of singer Dami Im when she won the national fashion award late last year.