She held her anniversary show at her flagship store with a colorful collection for all ages
It has been a decade since Victoria Beckham set herself up as a designer, putting her life as Posh Spice firmly behind her. There’s only one connection she’s prepared to draw between her business now and the Spice Girls then: “What we did was celebrate being different. We showed it was okay to be who you are,” Beckham said. “And that’s what this is about—empowering women through fashion. All women are different, and there’s something for everybody.”
It’s funny to think that VB is an icon in the memories of millennial and Gen Zers in their 20s, and, simultaneously, a wardrobe-inspirer to women of her own 40s-and-above generation. With her anniversary show, held in a gallery right next door to her Dover Street store, she recognized that: focusing all the hoopla around her anniversary on asserting the age-inclusivity of her brand. It was a smart, bracing surprise to see her opening her show with another British icon who started her own lasting career around the Spice Girl era, that avatar of ’90s cool and elegance Stella Tennant.
She was in a white trouser suit with wide pants, a lace-trimmed satin camisole, and silver metallic low-heeled boots. That got things very much off on the right foot. Tasha Tilberg and Aymeline Valade also walked, alongside the likes of Rianne Van Rompaey and Edie Campbell—supermodels of the new generation.
Mention of casting has to be made in passing, as the extreme youth of the models she’s used in her New York shows has often provoked criticism. But never mind that now! With this new, relatable atmosphere in the room and no distancing catwalk, there was nothing getting in the way of a clear view of a precise, compelling array of how-to-get-dressed looks.
If there was a theme, it was layering—the ’90s notion of wearing dresses over trousers—but poshed and polished up in a way that only the faintest ghost of Courtney Love’s slip dresses could be recognized by women old enough to have witnessed grunge. Not to be misunderstood: Everything about Victoria Beckham’s work is hyper-clean—the zinging colors, the crisp edges of striped shirts, the controlled assurance of every component. That way of focussing attention is its strongest attraction, in fact.
By Look 2, the eye was trained on an orange dress which, at first glance, seemed to have a pair of tan leggings beneath. Wrong: These were actually super-slim crepe trousers with a V-shape split in the front hem, neatly showcasing the top of another pair of low slipper boots, this time in white. This turned out to be the key component of the collection—a product shown 11 times in different colors (burgundy, black, white, cornflower blue, red) under tailored suit jackets and tunics, handkerchief-point knit dresses, and a lovely lace shirt. Something VB truly believes in, then? For sure! When she came out at the end, she was wearing a pair under her tan blazer—thus sending a global message about this versatile piece for day, night, and pretty much any time between.
Whatever Beckham wears, women race to buy. She knows that. Victoriabeckham.com is now fully geared up to take the onslaught from her fanbase in all generations. Starting today, T-shirts of the Juergen Teller print of VB in a shopping bag are available online, as well as (genius marketing stroke, this), the spike-heeled white pumps she’s wearing. Meanwhile, now that the show is over, VB is, she laughed, “playing shopgirl,” and personally selling to customers, signing T-shirts, and lunching with major spending fans who have flown in from “America, Australia, Asia, [and] Mexico.”
Her talent is being able to create the feeling of a relationship with her customers. The feedback on models came from them, she says, during another lunch at Scott’s she threw last year. The more women are able to project themselves onto the person wearing the clothes, the more likely they are to leap at buying. Seems basic, but it felt like a liberating breakthrough for Beckham as she faces the next 10 years of growing her brand. “I’ve got my foot on the gas,” she promised.
British Vogue and David Beckham Host a Party for Victoria Beckham’s 10th Anniversary
It was a busy Sunday for Victoria Beckham, who started her day showing her Spring 2019 collection twice in the morning before playing shopkeeper for fans in her Dover Street shop. Then, after a Piccadilly Circus takeover and a quick lunch with her family, it was time for Beckham to let her hair down and party. Last night at Mark’s Club in Mayfair, Edward Enninful and David Beckham hosted a bash for the ages.
Inside the elegant town house, the guest list was a who’s who of Beckham’s supporters (and her parents) including Eva Chen, Gordon and Tana Ramsay, and Juergen Teller (who shot the campaign featuring Beckham inside her own shopping bag). Fueled by a few cheeky cocktails on offer—“the VB” featured tequila with a chili infusion—guests stayed long into the night, grooving to tracks spun by Fat Tony before Beckham ushered in a final dance party to “Spice Up Your Life.”
It was a busy Sunday for Victoria Beckham, who started her day showing her Spring 2019 collection twice in the morning before playing shopkeeper for fans in her Dover Street shop. Then, after a Piccadilly Circus takeover and a quick lunch with her family, it was time for Beckham to let her hair down and party. Last night at Mark’s Club in Mayfair, Edward Enninful and David Beckham hosted a bash for the ages.
Inside the elegant town house, the guest list was a who’s who of Beckham’s supporters (and her parents) including Eva Chen, Gordon and Tana Ramsay, and Juergen Teller (who shot the campaign featuring Beckham inside her own shopping bag). Fueled by a few cheeky cocktails on offer—“the VB” featured tequila with a chili infusion—guests stayed long into the night, grooving to tracks spun by Fat Tony before Beckham ushered in a final dance party to “Spice Up Your Life.”
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