It’s not everyday that an independent artist sees Beyoncé wearing their original creation in British Vogue. But for Victoria Shen, a small experimental musician based in San Francisco, that’s exactly what happened earlier this month.
In a July 1 video released by the fashion behemoth, Beyoncé introduces her latest single, “Break My Soul,” by gently dragging long, chrome acrylic nails with needles on them across a spinning record. However, these unique “needle nails” were originally made by Shen, who performs under the name Evicshen and had no idea that Vogue lifted her idea without proper attribution or compensation (and who posted photos of her sonic creation in 2021, long before the video came out).
The artist, who used to be a nail technician and cleverly incorporates them in her rowdy, kinetic live sets, says she “was totally gagged” when she saw them on Queen B herself. “It really came as a shock,” she said over the phone.
After Shen’s followers ignited a firestorm on social media — and after the “Beyhive” came after her, which she refers to as more of a “wasps’ nest” — Shen reached out to Andrew Makadsi, the creative brain behind Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” and her 2022 Oscars performance, and asked for credit. (Shen shared screenshots of their private conversation on Instagram with SFGATE).
“Sorry for this incident, the idea came from our director and we didn’t do well on our end to check the background,” Makadsi replied. “We will update the British Vogue credits, I would love to figure out a collaboration together in the future.”
Shortly after, Beyoncé’s publicist quietly came forward to apologize to Shen and let her know that credits have been updated to include her name, according to screenshots of the conversation shared with SFGATE. In the exchange, she asks Shen to take down her original Instagram post calling out British Vogue, and after Shen replies that she’d consider it if they made “proper amends,” Shen says she was ghosted.
British Vogue’s communications team did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment, nor did they outline steps for how they’d prevent similar situations from happening again.
“So it’s like, I feel like half good, half bad because it also still feels like I was ripped off, you know, in an uncredited way,” Shen says. “But you know, I’m also kind of happy that the idea is out there. It’s reaching a much wider audience than I ever could.”
And the way Beyoncé’s team could truly make amends? “The total dream is if Beyoncé let me rip the noise set in her mansion,” she laughs. “I would be so like, ‘This is it. I’ve made it, I can retire happy.’”
It’s not everyday that an independent artist sees Beyoncé wearing their original creation in British Vogue. But for Victoria Shen, a small experimental musician based in San Francisco, that’s exactly what happened earlier this month.
In a July 1 video released by the fashion behemoth, Beyoncé introduces her latest single, “Break My Soul,” by gently dragging long, chrome acrylic nails with needles on them across a spinning record. However, these unique “needle nails” were originally made by Shen, who performs under the name Evicshen and had no idea that Vogue lifted her idea without proper attribution or compensation (and who posted photos of her sonic creation in 2021, long before the video came out).
The artist, who used to be a nail technician and cleverly incorporates them in her rowdy, kinetic live sets, says she “was totally gagged” when she saw them on Queen B herself. “It really came as a shock,” she said over the phone.
After Shen’s followers ignited a firestorm on social media — and after the “Beyhive” came after her, which she refers to as more of a “wasps’ nest” — Shen reached out to Andrew Makadsi, the creative brain behind Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” and her 2022 Oscars performance, and asked for credit. (Shen shared screenshots of their private conversation on Instagram with SFGATE).
“Sorry for this incident, the idea came from our director and we didn’t do well on our end to check the background,” Makadsi replied. “We will update the British Vogue credits, I would love to figure out a collaboration together in the future.”
Shortly after, Beyoncé’s publicist quietly came forward to apologize to Shen and let her know that credits have been updated to include her name, according to screenshots of the conversation shared with SFGATE. In the exchange, she asks Shen to take down her original Instagram post calling out British Vogue, and after Shen replies that she’d consider it if they made “proper amends,” Shen says she was ghosted.
British Vogue’s communications team did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment, nor did they outline steps for how they’d prevent similar situations from happening again.
“So it’s like, I feel like half good, half bad because it also still feels like I was ripped off, you know, in an uncredited way,” Shen says. “But you know, I’m also kind of happy that the idea is out there. It’s reaching a much wider audience than I ever could.”
And the way Beyoncé’s team could truly make amends? “The total dream is if Beyoncé let me rip the noise set in her mansion,” she laughs. “I would be so like, ‘This is it. I’ve made it, I can retire happy.’”