Barbra Streisand Dons Azeeza Khan on Tour

When Barbra Streisand sang “The Way We Were” with Lionel Richie at Hyde Park in London in July, the legendary singer wore an asymmetric black gown with a high-low cape and sweeping train. The dress, which the performer styled as one-shoulder on stage, was not by her BFF and go-to designer Donna Karan — it was by the Chicago-based Azeeza Khan.

The ruffled silk gown is one of 25 looks Khan created for Streisand, including ready-to-wear, evening pieces and custom pieces created exclusively for the singer.  “The dress is a piece from my resort 2020 collection that I took to her even before releasing it to my retail partners/buyers,” Khan said. “As of today, she is the only one who has that piece. The dress is going to be called the Barbra, and it was such an honor to receive her blessing to give the gown her name.”

“The Barbra” will retail for $2,995.

Streisand is on tour with upcoming stops at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 3 and Chicago’s United Center on Aug. 6, and Khan is in final development for additional tour looks for these two shows. “Once the tour is over, we will resume designing dresses that she has in mind. She’s very visionary as you can imagine, and is constantly ideating,” Khan said. “I’m so excited to be on this creative journey with her; this is a personal and professional experience that is near impossible to top.”

Streisand discovered Khan through her rtw collection.  “She showed a special interest in my designs and story and before I knew it, I was in her Malibu home for design development and fittings. Barbra graciously pulled out her actual archives — down to the ‘Funny Girl’ peacock caftan, to share her love of fabrics, embroideries and especially colors.”

The experience proved beyond memorable for the designer, who added that Streisand has been “lovely to work with.”

“To see these iconic pieces in person, to touch and feel them and be able to reference them during our design sessions, and then for her to share the stories on how she came to wear that piece — or the special details on why she chose a specific color or fabric for it, was when it really dawned on me how magical it was to design for one of America’s greatest fashion icons of all time.”

Khan launched her collection in 2012 and her flagship is located at 900 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Her line is also sold at Barneys New York, Shopbop and 11 Honoré. Retail prices start at $495 for a cotton poplin dress and go up to $15,000 for a custom design, according to the designer.

A spokesman for Streisand said it’s too soon to know what other designers she might wear on tour, as “Barbra is still deciding.”

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