How former WAG Victoria Beckhamham reinvented herself
A decade ago, it would have been difficult to imagine Victoria Beckham’s design success. As her clothing line celebrates 10 years, Meadhbh McGrath charts how the former WAG reinvented herself
When Victoria Beckham announced in 2008 that she would be starting a fashion brand, the move was greeted with scepticism. Best known at the time for her logoheavy WAG style, fake tan and figurehugging party dresses, the fashion world was dubious of her talent, assuming it would be another short-lived celebrity vanity project like Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. or Beyoncé’s House of Dereon.
The former Spice Girl ended up presenting her spring-summer collection, a tight edit of bodycon dresses shown on three models, to a handful of fashion editors and buyers in a New York hotel suite. The group was impressed — so impressed that whispers started circulating that Victoria, who had no formal training, may have received help creating the collection. Critics picked up on the influence of her friend Roland Mouret, particularly his famed Galaxy dress. Victoria always denied these rumours, although she has said Mouret introduced her to a couple of her early-team members. Yet she was open about her lack of technical ability, telling reporters in 2008, “Do I draw? No. Then again, nor do lots of other designers. But I put it all on myself and walk around in it, and I know what feels comfortable. I know how a dress should sit.” A decade on, Victoria’s landmark homecoming show at London Fashion Week on Sunday cemented her status as a well-respected designer with just as much credibility as her peers who were educated at fashion colleges or cut their teeth at legacy houses. While other members of her team may be doing the drawing and pattern cutting, the vision is hers alone. “I know that within fashion circles, there was a lot of scepticism 10 years ago about Victoria becoming a designer — but it was like that with all celebrity-endorsed brands, so she certainly wasn’t alone there,” says Anna Ross, Associate Editor for womenswear at global trend forecaster WGSN. “What gave Victoria the longevity to surpass any initial ambiguities was her passion and perseverance. She worked hard, learning about construction, understanding fabrics and having a really clear vision about her woman. I think the fact that she became so intrinsically involved and immersed within her work generated a huge amount of respect for her within the industry. She isn’t just a ‘face of the brand’ — it’s all her.”
Every collection since has had a strong base in Victoria’s personal style. Over the last decade, Victoria Beckham the brand, and the woman, have graduated from the wiggle dresses
(or, as Victoria called them, “suckysucky” dresses) to what Ross describes as “an entire empire” of both luxury womenswear and the more affordable Victoria Victoria Beckham diffusion range.
In between, there was the sophisticated Audrey Hepburn phase, complete with pixie cut; the low-key luxury phase, when she first took to her now-permanent oversized sunglasses; and now the contemporary Victoria, who favours clean lines, intriguing colour combinations and sharp tailoring. “Aesthetically, Victoria’s vision has grown stronger and stronger with each collection,” says Ross. “She’s become braver and more experimental, her silhouettes are now relaxed and layered, and her play with colour becomes more refined with each offering. She’s making clothes that ooze confidence, clothes that women — of all ages — want to wear.” Victoria’s acute understanding of what women want and what makes them feel good has been key to her brand’s success. Even back in 2008, Vogue applauded her debut collection for its “womanfriendly details”, such as a back zipper to prevent messing up hair and make-up. “Victoria centres her collections on femininity — it’s all about the woman and she caters for all sizes, shapes and ages,” says Shelly Corkery, fashion director of Brown Thomas, Victoria Beckham’s only Irish stockist. “She has done fitted, loose, longer lengths, midi and sexy shorter styles, but always keeps it clean with bright splashes of colour.”
The focus on ‘real women’ is crucial to Victoria’s appeal, both as a designer and as a style icon. Her size range is still limited (with a 14 the largest available), but women of all shapes find inspiration in Beckham’s colour clashes, silhouettes and styling tricks. Ross likens her to Phoebe Philo, the former creative director of Céline, who struck a similar balance between approachable and aspirational design. Both designers offer grown-up fashion that speaks to grown-up women, including fluid midi dresses, relaxed silk shirts, wide-leg trousers and high-vamp heels.
“Victoria subverts staples just enough to make them feel new and desirable but not too much that they look unattainable at a commercial level. She knows what women want from their clothes each season, balancing the line between function and form — that’s the real knack of a great designer,” Ross explains.
Of course, back in 2008, no one was to know what role social media would have in the modern fashion landscape. In this sense, Victoria’s clever branding has set her leagues ahead of many of her peers — she has 22.7m followers on Instagram, and wears almost exclusively her own designs. She also uses social media to bolster her family-focused image, often featuring her children or husband David. This month’s British Vogue cover, with all four kids and their dog Olive piled on, was just the latest example of a shrewd
I think the fact she became so immersed in her work generated a huge amount of respect for her within the industry
marketing master.
“She’s built a life and career which is incredibly aspirational to most. She wears many hats: mother, businesswoman and wife, and does them all with grace. I think that comes across as really genuine over her social platforms and shapes the overall brand,” says Ross.
“She’s definitely an influencer. The Beckham brand holds a huge amount of currency and whenever she wears something or endorses something, be it from her own collection or otherwise, it sells. Her personal style has evolved with her label, so it feels only fitting she wears her own designs. You are your own best spokesperson!”
And whatever Victoria wears, women rush to buy.
“She really is her own best advocate as she wears her collections so well. When she wears her designs, we see a huge uplift in sales,” Corkery says, highlighting this season’s pastel striped dress, a floral midi she wore to fashion week in 2016 and a lace two-piece that appeared on the cover of Grazia in 2015 as “huge sell-outs”.
Sunday’s anniversary show marked a big shift for the brand, as Victoria presented her collection at London Fashion Week for the first time after years in New York. David and kids Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper sat in the front row, and Victoria gave a nod to ageless style by enlisting 47-year-old model Stella Tennant to open the show. The collection featured androgynous tailoring, roomy trousers with silky camisoles, asymmetric midi dresses and a key new trouser silhouette, slim fitted with a V-shape slit in the front hem.
“Every season there is a move on in the collection and the show on Sunday was one of the big highlights of this year’s London Fashion Week,” says Corkery.
At a 10th anniversary celebration in her flagship store later that day, Victoria offered that signature blend of approachable and aspirational in the flesh, too. With hundreds of people waiting outside just to catch a glimpse of her, and a fashion show live-streamed on the screens in Piccadilly Circus, Posh has come a long way from that little suite in New York in 2008.