Silent Spice… Is Victoria shutting up shop?
Having reportedly earned more in the past year for being a Spice Girl than from her fashion empire, is it...
In recent years, pop icon-turned-designer Victoria Beckham, 46, has made more from music – despite not joining her Spice Girl bandmates on their 2019 tour – than from her fashion empire.
The glam mum – to Brooklyn, 21, Romeo, 18, Cruz, 15, and nine-year-old Harper with former footballing pro husband, David – reportedly made a fortune in the tax year ending December 2019 from music, with her company Moody Productions bringing in £3.3 million.
Her fashion firm, meanwhile – which is owned by multiple shareholders, not just Victoria, and adored by celebs – made pre-tax losses in that period.
Though Victoria’s stylish coats sell for up to £1,400, boots £1,500 and jumpers for £690, the company doesn’t seem to have made a profit since it launched in 2008 – 13 years ago, a number living up to its unlucky reputation, then!
A source online was recently quoted as saying Victoria was ‘thinking of giving up on her dream’ with regards to her fashion label, to focus on more lucrative ventures – something Victoria has not publicly responded to.
There has also been no statement by Victoria or the company that shops will close. The fashion line, Victoria Beckham Ltd, cut 20 staff in response to the Covid outbreak – a fifth of its workforce. The firm reportedly wanted to furlough a further 30, but following online backlash, swiftly rejected the idea.
This challenging landscape has been tough for fashion brands – and fashionistas took to Twitter to voice their concerns for the global fashion sector during the pandemic.
One wrote, ‘Tough times for global fashion. Beauty will recover quicker. I think for the conglomerate, it boils down to profitability. Celebrity fashion houses are generally not profitable. Victoria Beckham is just one of many houses who run at a loss.’
Another commented, ‘Look at the cases of the Olsens’ The Row and Victoria Beckham, the only celebrities’ high fashion lines that survive. And still have their struggles.’
The good news is that the star’s beauty business, Victoria Beckham Beauty, is thriving and she is venturing into pricey homeware - blankets, £350, and cushions, £190! Perhaps she’ll take her fashion empire online? Or concentrate on a lifestyle brand as Gwenth Paltrow did with Goop? Given her reincarnation since the Spice Girls, this is not a woman with problems reinventing herself!
‘They still have their struggles’