VICTORIA BECKHAM

ON KINDNESS

Empathy is at the core of Victoria Beckham’s personal values. It informs who she is as a person, a mother and businesswoman, influencing decisions across her fashion and beauty brands, as well as her philanthropic work. Here, in an exclusive for Vogue Australia, she explains why now is the time to show others we care.

GROWING UP, MY parents always taught me the importance of kindness, and with my children, I’ve always said the same thing: it doesn’t matter how smart you are, how you look or how you dress, what’s most important is that you are kind to other people.

When I was at school, I was quite an awkward teenager; I didn’t have a huge amount of friends, and looking back I recognise that I was bullied at times. I would never want anyone else to feel how I was made to feel. So when Harper started school, I said to her: “If you’re ever in the playground and there’s a little girl who is sitting on her own, ask her to play with you, go up and engage with her, because Mummy used to be that little girl.” I want everyone to know that no-one is on their own when Harper is around.

Someone said a while ago that in fashion it used to be cool to be cruel, and now I think it’s cool to be kind. I’m really lucky to be surrounded by talented people who work hard, respect one another and inspire me every day. I’d like to think we are a kind brand and that we extend that to our wider community. Of course, we all have missteps along the way, but we try to learn from them and apply that learning as we go forward.

In my opinion, this pandemic has probably made kindness even more important – no-one can ignore it. Right now, there is so much uncertainty and we are all scared and nervous. None of us have experienced this situation before, so it’s our responsibility to protect and explain this crazy time to our children and to focus on being more patient, understanding and supportive of each other.

As a family, we’ve looked at how we can help others while being in lockdown with just small gestures, because if we’re in a position to make things a bit easier for others and give people a nice little surprise, then that’s a small thing that can make a difference. David, the children and I are doing some work with older people in the community who live nearby. We put together food, toiletries and other essential items and add handwritten notes to put in the parcels, which a local charity 30 then delivers. We know how lucky and blessed we are, and when and where we can we endeavour to use our collective voices and social reach to help raise awareness or encourage others.

As challenging and as awful as this time is, social distancing has given us all time to spend with our loved ones. David is great at the cooking and I’m very good at clearing up and doing the housework! Like many, the lockdown period has made us appreciate our surroundings more. I woke up the other day to the sound of the birds tweeting. Of course, that happens normally, but I have just been too busy to appreciate it. I feel so incredibly lucky to be in a position that allows me to be safely at home with my family and be able to see the positives of this extraordinary time in our lives.

While working from home, we’ve been on walks every day as a family. How often would we all go on a walk together normally? Usually there’s a conference call or a work meeting or someone is travelling abroad. These times are precious.

Yesterday, David and I were walking ahead of Cruz and Harper. We could hear them laughing so loudly and we just turned to each other and said: “How lovely is that to hear and to see?” The fact that they were just laughing and talking and having fun together was such a special moment. I feel like I’ve become quite philosophical through all of this, noticing these moments and how incredible Mother Nature is. Not only do we have a responsibility to be kind to ourselves and one another, but also the environment and the planet.

With so many people terribly and tragically affected, the past months have certainly been difficult, but they’ve also given us the opportunity to take time out and reflect and learn. It’s the little people who are the future and it’s important we pass on the lessons we’ve learnt during this period to them. For me, it always comes back to kindness: it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, everybody can be kind. It doesn’t cost anything and makes you feel better as a person. It takes so much extra energy to be negative.

“It’s our responsibility to protect and explain this crazy time to our children and to focus on being more patient and supportive of each other”