Photo: Isidore Montag / Gorunway.com
As the late, great professor Louise Wilson used to command her Central Saint Martins MA fashion students when they were lost, confused, and pretentiously trying to be designer-ish: “Look at yourself in the mirror and start there.” Victoria Beckham never went to Central Saint Martins—being a mega–pop star at the time—but at this point in her fashion career, she’s come around to the wisdom of letting her autobiography lead her brand. “This is a very personal collection to me. It’s about my relationship with both dance and the British countryside,” she said before the show.
Her ballet aspirations “started when I was three” and segued into early dance and performance instruction at college (and the fateful Spice Girls audition). The British countryside bit was right up-to-date: The Beckhams have a weekend house in Oxfordshire. Hence, Victoria knows her way around Wellies, brogues, and outdoor jackets.
All of these elements were wrapped into the collection in the suggestion of dancers’ rehearsal jersey dresses and knitted leotards, “humble fabrics from the rehearsal studio,” as she put it, through to transparent tulle dresses referencing “the performance.” Some of the pieces had internal wiring, “to create an illusion of a gesture or posture.”
Beckham’s storytelling embraced the relaxed, slightly deconstructed city tailoring she’s been developing—and wearing—for the past few seasons. Pretty, summery cream linen dresses were inspired by family weekend trips to a village antiques shop that stocks ’30s and ’40s tablecloths and napkins “that remind me of my grandparents,” she said.
Her collection feels more centered and balanced now that she’s drawing on her lifestyle and experiences. The fact is, a lot of women would like to look something like Beckham when they see themselves in the mirror; the growing success of her beauty brand proves that. The launch of her new perfumes—three fragrances named after significant (and sexy) memories and locations from her life—coincided with her show. And who should be fronting the imagery for it, shot by Steven Klein? Victoria, of course.
Collection
This article was originally published on Vogue Runway.
