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In our franchise The Stars Behind the Stars, Billboard Latin and Billboard Español editors share stories that have yet to be told, directly from those who aren’t often in front of the spotlight. Think “todo lo que no se ve detrás de cámaras,” or “everything that happens behind the scenes.” These unsung heroes are essential to an artist’s team and its foundation. Today, we highlight the founder of Yellow Studio, Julio Himede.

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For her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, Colombian superstar Shakira turned to Yellow Studio to create a monumental stage design. Tasked with bringing her themes of resilience, empowerment and identity to life, the New York-based design agency meticulously crafted a visually stunning experience, filled with transformative elements and emotionally resonant storytelling.

“[Shakira] described wanting a monumental, clean screen where she could project all her messages from her latest album,” Julio Himede, founder of Yellow Studio, tells Billboard Español. The team, led by Himede and senior designer Damun Jawanrudi, worked closely with the artist to ensure every detail — from massive video displays to a show-stopping inflatable wolf centerpiece — all captured her vision and captivated audiences worldwide.

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Specializing in designing tours for high-profile celebrities, and entertainment events, the agency has created stages for the likes of the Grammy Awards, the BRIT Awards, the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, the 2024 EE BAFTA Awards, and the VMAs. With a tight-knit team of designers, architects, renderers, and production managers, Yellow Studio thrives on bringing artists’ creative visions to life. “The concept revolved around resilience and empowerment,” Himede explains — noting how Shakira’s album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, inspired the show’s visuals, like the metaphorical use of gemstones to symbolize strength and transformation.

Julio Himede

Murray Hall

In this Q&A, the Salvadorian-Australian designer dives into the creative journey behind Shakira’s tour, explaining how the team “wanted to capture that sense of belonging and identity,” transforming the stage into a powerful metaphor for survival and fortitude, while fostering a connection between the performer and her audience.

Talk to me about the first stages of working together with Shakira.

We started about a year ago, in March or April. We flew over to Miami and met with Shakira and our creative directors, The Square Division, for our first meeting. From Yellow Studio, we had one of our senior designers, Damun Jawanrudi and myself. She described wanting a monumental, clean screen where she could project all her messages from her latest album. From the beginning, it was a great, close collaboration. Shakira was heavily involved as an artist, [with] a big visual voice in the process.

Please describe the concept of your stage design in relation to her latest album themes.

Like we do for any project, we started with the research: “The Bible,” so to speak. We listened to her latest album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, breaking down the meanings and the overall concept. The main theme revolved around resilience and female empowerment, with a lot of metaphors about gemstones, which symbolize how women are resilient. That concept became the main source of inspiration for many of the visuals in the show.

Shakira Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran Tour

Leonardo Ferraz and Cu4tro

Let’s break down some specific songs. 

“Te Felicito” is the first act of the show. Leading up to it, we use a lot of earthy tones and imagery tied to the concepts of a desert and gemstones, symbolizing a woman surviving and rising from the earth. The colors are very tone-on-tone, creating a grounded aesthetic. The transition into “Te Felicito” drew inspiration from the music video, which Shakira was passionate about. We incorporated vibrant props and transformed the stage with monochromatic pinks and purples — tones meant to evoke seduction and candor. 

Another one that stood out was the visuals for “La Loba,” the “She-Wolf.” 

The wolf has a big representation for Shakira’s identity. Fans around the world often see themselves as part of the “Wolfpack,” a concept that has grown stronger over the years. For Shakira, the wolf is deeply tied to who she is, and that connection resonates with her fans. It’s bigger than just the song itself; it’s a feeling. So we wanted to capture that sense of belonging and identity during the show — the idea that when you come to the concert, you’re part of the Wolfpack, and Shakira is La Loba.

That theme runs throughout the two- to three-hour performance in various ways. Early on, you might see visuals on the video screens featuring a beautiful wolf alongside two cubs, symbolizing Shakira and her two children. Later, you’ll hear wolf howls incorporated into the performance. At the encore, when she sings “She Wolf,” we reveal a giant inflatable steady-foot wolf that rises up, becoming the show’s centerpiece, bringing the metaphor full circle.

We finish with the Wolf as a powerful statement of survival and resilience. I think the audience connects to the strength and significance of that message. 

How involved was Shakira working with the segments of her sets?

She was very involved and knew what she wanted. Shakira is extremely experienced and professional — not just with her choreographed dance moves and her ability to sing to a large crowd, but also in knowing what her fans want. She wants to offer a new experience to her audience. 

From the beginning, we came up with the idea of [having] a stage playground that would be clean, minimal and monumental — that could be transformed into elements she could play with or dance on. 

Shakira Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran Tour

Leonardo Ferraz and Cu4tro

We started with sketches and drawings. Then we moved into physical models. We presented three or four different scale models to her, [as if] playing a doll house. Shakira herself was able to cut things, put them together and turn them upside down. 

We explored ideas like hydraulics, leaves that could [emerge and recede], and the potential of the passerelle (the large runway-style stage extension). The video screens are a major feature of the setup. They’re monumental but can split apart, rise and fall, and transition from displaying striking landscapes to impactful lighting effects. 

On her 2017 El Dorado World Tour, the snake prop was costly to transport. Lessons from that experience that helped shape the design and logistics for this show?

There’s a lot of people who have worked with her for a long time, with a lot of experience from previous shows. They were able to give us really good words of advice about that. The wonderful wolf that we have, the big sculpture at the end, is an inflatable that literally goes down into a suitcase, which is amazing. In a matter of 15 seconds, it can be inflated into a 30-foot sculpture, which is incredible — the technology that we have now — and we’re able to pack it into a very small box. That’s [one of the] wonderful tricks and technology that we are able to take advantage of.

What do you think fans connect with the most during the show? What would you say is the peak moment of the experience?

Shakira knows her fans better than any of us on the [team], and she really knows how to balance really high-energy songs that get the audience going. But then she’s able to come back to a small, acoustic or a cappella performance. Whether it’s 120,000 people in São Paulo, or 60,000 — the entire stadium is connected and focused on her.

It feels like an immersive connection when Shakira sings from the catwalk. We also gave the audience colorful light-up bracelets, which, though are not new, [enhance the sense] of community, like you’re a part of the Wolfpack. It is a fun way to make everyone feel like they’re part of this incredible performance.

Shakira Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran Tour

Leonardo Ferraz and Cu4tro