Designer to the stars Mark Zunino exclusively tells ET what it's like working with Queen Bey -- and who else he wants to dress!
Beyonce is in need of a whole new performance wardrobe after announcing her On the Run II tour with JAY-Z earlier this month, and ET has an exclusive look at one of her possible costumes!
Only ET's Lauren Zima was with designer Mark Zunino at his Los Angeles studio on Monday, where he showed off a $20,000 jumpsuit he's making for none other than Queen Bey.
"I have three jumpsuits and some personal clothes that I'm making and she's wonderful," Zunino gushed as he showed off one special piece in a glittering gold color with a structured top that Beyonce can really move in. "What everybody likes is the fact that they can move and dance, and it's not going anywhere."
Zunino got his start decades ago, making costumes for Dynasty, and has worked with seemingly ever star in Hollywood since, from Katy Perry to Julia Roberts to Angelina Jolie. He even dressed ET's Nancy O'Dell, Nischelle Turner and Zima for Oscars events -- but it's Beyonce who might be his most particular client, despite the fact that "she can wear anything."
"She is quick and she's definite, and that's wonderful. Women like that have been exposed to so much... they know what it's going to look like on them, so it makes it really easy," he said, adding that for this request, Bey asked to "'Show me beaded, solid beaded things,' and I was like, 'Do you want something hand-beaded or pre-beaded?' And she goes, 'Pre-beaded is OK.'"
"Shows are really specific because [of the] dance moves," Zunino explained. "That was the thing with Jennifer [Lopez], she's really moving. Like with Britney Spears, she moves, but it's not so technical, to the clothing. The same thing with Mariah [Carey]. But Beyonce, you never know, because she is all over the stage, so her stuff, it's got to be you can do anything."
That's why Bey has become a big fan of the jumpsuit. "I started with her when no one was wearing them. Then everybody started wearing them," Zunino said. "She still wears them, and now everyone is in the vibe where a jumpsuit is normal."
Zunino first started working with Beyonce seven years ago, telling ET that when his team first told him she wanted to work with him, he was in disbelief.
"She was here, and my office told me, and I said, 'I don't believe you,' because I had just given an interview and said that's who I want to dress, so I didn't show up," he revealed. "I went to the gym and I came back an hour and a half later... and it's Beyonce."
"She said, 'I've been waiting for you,' and I'm like, 'I'm so sorry!' and I told her the story and she laughed and she stayed for, like, another two hours, and that was my meeting with her," he continued. "It's strange how that stuff happens."
As for who Zunino is dying to dress next? "You know who I haven't had who I want is Rihanna, desperately," he confessed, before describing his other celebrity clients.
"[Working with Jolie was] amazing," he said. "She's very particular, which is wonderful. I love that."
"[Lopez is] wonderful too, because she looks good in everything, and she's huge into fashion," Zunino said. "There are things that she wears that I'm a little bit surprised."
For Zunino, every celebrity is "a little bit different," and it's often his job to read their vibe and get them into the rhythm of choosing the perfect look. "Sofia Vergara, she will say, 'I'm in a sh**ty mood. I had a horrible day and I'm sad and I'm coming anyway,' and I'm like, 'OK.' So we start off quiet, and then we're good, and then it rolls into it."
"Everybody has high-stress jobs," he added. "We're used to that."
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