4 days ago
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- Malaysian Reserve
Victoria Beckham's Netflix series parades fashion triumphs, tears
While showcasing her new collection at Centurion NY, Beckham opens up about the improving fate of her business
by CHRIS ROVZAR
FOR someone who has been famous since the late 1990s, Victoria Beckham is surprisingly busy in the 2020s. After many years in the red, her eponymous fashion company Victoria Beckham Holdings Ltd saw revenue growth of more than 50% in 2023, and shrunk its operating losses before tax to £2.9 million (RM16.57 million), putting it on the road to profitability, no small thing for an independent luxury fashion brand.
Beckham also introduced a successful fragrance line two years ago, and became the accidental star of a Netflix documentary series about her husband, football star David Beckham. Her charming, funny cameos showed a playful and relatable side to the megawatt couple, they of the matching purple Versace wedding outfits.
This year is looking no less buzzy for Victoria. For the first time ever, she showed her resort collection in person, rather than digitally, at a glamorous trunk show at Centurion New York, where American Express' (Amex) Centurion members could have an early pick of the pieces. In the fall, Beckham will be the star of her own Netflix docuseries, which will follow her day to day as the creative director of her fashion and beauty brands.
'It's hard work and determination that has built the brand into what it is now, and why I'm so proud as an independent brand to be able to say I'm profitable,' she told Bloomberg in an exclusive interview at Centurion.
The company can't yet say that it was in the black in 2024. (Official figures for last year have not been finalised, so the company could not confirm that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were positive.) In recent years, the organisation has received millions in cash injections from its owners, which include Beckham and her husband, Simon Fuller's XIX Management and NEO Investment Partners, a private equity firm. But the strategy seems to be working, as revenue has grown by double digits for three straight years.
We sat down to discuss her future plans, the most important person in her stores and what she collects. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. — Bloomberg
Clothing and accessories from Victoria Beckham's resort 2026 collection were displayed around Centurion NY
Q: So, what made you decide to show this collection in NY?
I was having brunch with Tom Brown and Anna Wintour a few months ago, as you do, and she said to me, 'You should come back to New York (NY) and show one of your collections.' It's something that I've been thinking about for a while, because I showed my first ever collection here in NY in 2008. NY has been such a huge part of my story so far. I was approached by Amex to come over here, and it just worked perfectly to do it.
Q: Were you nervous when you did that first presentation in 2008?
I was so nervous. And let me tell you, I'm just as nervous now. Because I really care. You know, I'm a product person, I love creating the clothes and the makeup and the fragrances. I'm very hands-on with the creative process. I never want to settle. No matter what it is that I'm creating — it could be a simple white T-shirt — it's gotta be the right fabric, the right shape, the right execution. My name's on the label.
Q: For the last publicly available numbers, from 2023, your losses shrank dramatically. What changed to make that happen?
We bought our price point down, and we merged the two brands that we had at the time into one. I wanted to challenge myself and my teams to create collections that didn't feel like a compromise. They felt very considered, perfectly executed, using really great fabrics. But how could we do that at an affordable luxury price point? And it wasn't easy.
Q: Are you going to have to face raising prices in the US because of tariffs?
At the moment, we are just monitoring the situation very closely.
Q: Your clothing is very functional; each outfit seems to have a clear use case.
I believe that everything that I do should be rooted in some form of reality. You should be able to wear everything. It always makes me laugh when you see people go into events and they have to go in a car where they stand up. Or they can't walk properly. You gotta be able to dream, but you've still gotta be able to wear these clothes.
Q: You have a documentary coming up in the fall.
My husband convinced me to do this documentary. To be honest, I wasn't sure anybody would really want to see what I do every day. It focuses on what I do, and my role as founder and creative director of the two brands. I thought long and hard about it, and then I realised that now is the time to do it.
I've been very defined by a four- year period in my life when I was in the Spice Girls. And I am so proud of that. But with that came all the preconceptions. I've been in the fashion industry creating my own collections for nearly 20 years.
And it's taken this long for me to feel confident enough in what I do and my brand, knowing that now is the time that I can talk about my past. I can talk about the journey, I can talk about struggles, because I can do that confidently feeling it's not going to damage the brand. Nothing is sugar-coated.
Leather goods and shoes from Victoria Beckham's resort 2026 collection
Q: Are there tears?
There are tears. And it did occur to me the other day, what am I going to think when I see those tears on a huge screen? Or on an iPhone? To be completely honest, I am in the hands of the editor now.
Q: Is your husband on it?
Well, he might end up on the cutting-room floor. I mean, who knows? They have filmed a little bit of David and the children because they're such a huge part of everything.
Q: On the Pursuits team, we're fans of your style. What are you collecting these days?
I collect watches, so I have a nice Patek [Philippe] collection. And we both like to collect contemporary art. That's something that we've both really enjoyed learning about over the last few years. The colour palette of this collection was inspired by a Francis Bacon piece from 1979 that I had in my store, because I've recently done a collaboration with Sotheby's. It's muted tones with pops of colour. And there's a red flower print that was inspired by some Gary Hume pieces that I have in my house. They were the first pieces of art that we actually ever owned.
Q: The car your family had growing up became the subject of a meme after David's documentary. Do you drive yourself these days?
I do drive.
Q: What kind of car?
I have a Ferrari.
Q: Which one?
Oh my gosh, you're gonna ask me which one. Please don't say that I don't know which one. [Turns to her hairstylist, Ken Paves, who is standing across the room] Can we please text David and ask?
Q: When it comes to fashion, how do you discover stuff? Are you too famous to go to shops?
No. I absolutely love to go out and go shopping quite often. I'll go out in my workout clothing, maybe in a baseball cap. I like to experience brands physically, as opposed to online.
Q: Do you take any of that back to your store in London?
Yes. Especially customer service.
Q: What have you learned about customer service?
How important the security guards are that work at the front of the stores.
Q: Oh, because of theft?
Because of how people are treated when they come into the store. That's part of my brand DNA, welcoming people. The other day I said to my security when I was walking into my store, 'You're the most important person in here.' I remember when I was younger going into stores, it could be really quite intimidating.
And I just would never like to make people feel like that. Even if you're just coming in to get inspired by the architecture or look at the collaborations that I might be showcasing. Or the contemporary art.
Q: Do you imagine yourself selling the company to a luxury group in the long term?
I'm open right now. I'm very proud of how far we have come as an independent brand. I think that the future for me, the next step for me is retail globally.
Q: Does that mean we might have a store here?
I'd love to. I think that will hopefully happen at some point next year.
Q: Great, thank you so much for your time.
Thank you. I really appreciate you. And I will let you know what car I drive.
Ken Paves, from across the room: It's a Ferrari Roma. She's a really good driver, by the way.
Aha! Thanks.
Yes. I've driven him several times.
Paves: We got there very fast.
This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
