The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2020 - Issue 27

bite fashion O ut of all the Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham is perhaps the only one who has stayed on our radar the most thanks to her fashion career. But even before she launched her name- sake brand in 2008, nearly 10 years after the Spice Girls disbanded, she was always the fashionable one in the band. Ginger Spice, Geri Haliwell, told Marie Claire that her bandmate was always “minimal- ist but designer-driven… I remember Victoria coming into the stu- dio one day wearing Manolo Blahnik shoes, and I was mesmerised.” Her journey into becoming a fashion designer didn’t happen straight away. Posh Spice, as she was known in the girl band, dabbled in modelling which included a guest appearance on the catwalk for Maria Grachvogel in February 2000, a British ambassador for Dolce and Gabbana, and a brief stint as the face of Rocawear in 2003. She also attempted a solo music career and was involved in several de- sign collaborations with huge fashion names in the industry before she emerged deeper into fashion. Victoria struck up a friendship with Marc Jacobs after the designer spotted her carrying a fake version of his Louis Vuitton graffiti bag in a British newspaper and decided to send her a real one. “I hardly dreamed that my ultimate goal would be to have Posh Spice carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag,” he told WWD in 2005. “It was kind of funny.” She later reimagined his famed 2008 campaign which saw her pictured emerging from a shopping bag like an abstract doll bearing her brand name in place of his. Getting recognised as a serious fashion designer wasn’t easy for Victoria at first. After all, the industry wasn’t really hot on a celeb- rity-turned-designer and especially one defined as a WAG (‘wives and girlfriends’ of high-profile sportspersons) since she had mar- ried former footballer David Beckham. She was rumoured to have been repeatedly turned away from fashion shows. But that attitude changed after she presented her first collection - a range of 10 dresses at the Waldorf Hotel in New York in September 2008. Beforehand, there was a bout of judgement from fashion editors and other attendees. “I remember well when Victoria started her collection,” BFC chair- man Caroline Rush recalled. "As with every celebrity-turned-designer, there was some scepticism from the industry which was very quickly dispelled when she started presenting her collections. There was a lot of interest from the press and buyers and definitely a lot of buzz around the brand. It very soon became one of the hottest tickets of NYFW.” Harper’s Bazaar senior fashion editor Miranda Almond had her reservations as well. “At the start, the fashion set was very dubious about Victoria doing her own line. After all, she was a pop star and I don’t think particularly revered for her style, so her own fashion line seemed a little out of character.” Howev- er, her debut collection was well-received by fashion editors, who praised the ‘sophistication’ of the cut and fit, while The Times called it a ‘very impressive accomplished collection, with not a single dud.” Hosting a salon-based presentation, Victoria personally talked the editors through the collection. “It was a smart move,” Almond recalled. “She per- sonally introduced each look herself in a room with models walking through it, naming fabrics, techniques, and the thinking behind each look. It was so personal and touching and there wasn’t one person in the room who wasn’t moved by what they experienced and saw. She really laid herself bare to what can be a very cynical crowd and she won over each and everyone.” Since her initial collection of dresses in silk, wool, and organza, Victoria has