What Impact Will Beyoncé's Pregnancy Have On The Fashion Industry?

What Impact Will Beyoncé's Pregnancy Have On The Fashion Industry?
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So Beyoncé is pregnant. It's the news that upstaged Britney Spears' VMA tribute and put a halt to tweets about hurricane Irene. The excitement was evident yesterday, as Twitter and Facebook went crazy with the Beyoncé love.

The world is clearly thrilled about the impending arrival of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's mini-me, and there hasn't been this much interest in a celebrity pregnancy since Angelina and Brad were expecting Shiloh. Editors of gossip magazines must be rejoicing - think of the magazines they'll sell with Baby Bey's first pictures - but how will Beyoncé's pregnancy impact the fashion industry?

Here are just a few possibilities - some more likely than others:

Flattered that Beyoncé wore Dolce & Gabbana for her now-infamous VMA performance, Domenico and Stefano dedicate their Spring/Summer 2012 collection to Bey. Models are sent out wearing miniature baby bumps which they gleefully rub at the end of the runway. The trend soon catches on, with Primark introducing a copy-cat line of faux-bumps.

A rumour starts on Twitter that Beyoncé is expecting a boy. Worried that the chicest designer gear for boys will all be snapped up for baby-Z, Rachel Zoe panic buys. Barneys is forced to issue a statement, reassuring customers they will do everything in their power to get more stock for baby boys as soon as possible. Beyoncé then has a girl.

In a bid to land the coveted role of godmother (she is up against Destiny's Child, after all), Gwyneth Paltrow asks Stella McCartney to make Beyoncé a one-of-a-kind maternity dress. The dress - which includes 4,444 gold sequins in honour of Bey's love of bling and the number four - is created in secret, with crowds gathering outside McCartney's studio each morning. It's then displayed in a museum.

Anna Wintour scraps her October cover (rumoured to be Adele) in favour of Beyoncé. Grace Coddington is forced to beg Jean Paul Gaultier to make a slightly larger couture sample for the last-minute cover shoot and Mario Testino cancels a photo session with Kate Middleton so he can snap Bey's cover. The issue is a bestseller. Kate doesn't mind.

Baby Beyoncé is a natural beauty. André Leon Talley dedicates his US Vogue column to the tot, declaring, "The famine of beauty is over". Model agencies bombard Baby Bey with million dollar contracts and Allure magazine run a feature the six-month old. Harper Seven and Suri Cruise wonder what they did wrong...