Riccardo Tisci says dressing Beyonce for her 'On the Run' tour is like ''helping a friend get ready for a party''.

The Givenchy designer was thrilled to be asked to design his pal's costumes for her co-headlining shows with husband Jay Z while he was fitting her for her Met Gala outfit - for which he was her guest for the third year in a row - and has had a lot of fun creating the outfits.

Explaining how she first showed him the short film announcing the tour, he said: ''I saw that video and was like, 'Wow'. we started talking about hat she might wear.

''I said straight away, 'OK, it should all be black, American, sexy but luxe, couture...' It was exciting, from the gut, like when you're helping a friend getting ready for a party.''

Riccardo first met Beyonce in 2011 and was pleased the superstar wasn't how he expected her to be.

He explained: ''When I met her, she wasn't how I expected her to be.

''She's very powerful and one of the great icons of our time, but also so sweet, so feminine, very gentle and never vulgar.''

Jay - who has been wearing a custom-made Givenchy tuxedo on the tour - was ''very happy'' with his wife's costumes, but has had little input into them.

Riccardo told Grazia magazine: ''He came and said hello to me during fittings and seemed very happy with everything, but I mean, she knows what she wants, she has a pretty strong point of view.''