by Victoria Beckham could have competition. Ahead of her FW23 show, launched tonight in Paris, her daughter Harper designed her own pant suit for the occasion. “She had a very clear vision,” Beckham said at a pre-show preview this morning.
Family was one of the subplots of her new collection. Beckham was inspired by Gray Gardens, the 1975 documentary about Jackie Kennedy’s two eccentric relatives: Edith and Edie Bouvier Beale. A pre-show note; Beckham had recruited her old friend Drew Barrymore (who played Little Edie in the biopic).
The collection had, in her words, a “magnetic sense of oddity”. This led to intentionally odd, surreal touches like the crocodile-embossed trouser boots, the slightly exaggerated proportions, and shoes and necklaces adorned with acrylic hair extensions; a nod to the work of Brazilian artist Solange Pessoa.
Beckham once lived a different kind of hair extension glamor than the elaborate elegance she has today. But like The Row, her brand has long since transcended its tabloid origins. Her strength is, well, her. “Everything I do will always have an element of reality, but it’s about dreaming,” she said. “It always starts with what I want for myself.” She added that “the bad design team lets me try on the clothes half-naked quite a lot” and that she likes to “street test” everything, including the platform shoes she wears today Morgen wore (they had survived the “ebb and flow” Eurostar test, she reported).
Indeed, it’s not hard to picture Mrs. B in the resin-coated denim, feather-printed jersey dresses, a particularly gorgeous white alpaca skirt suit, or any of the shoulder-padded, deconstructed tailoring she’s proposing today. But the appeal of these pieces goes well beyond the 1 percent world they occupy. Proof that NEO Investment Partners founder David Belhassen told WWD today revenue grew 42 per cent to £58m last year with further double-digit growth. “I feel great. I have a great team. An amazing CEO. It’s an exciting time,” she said.
Paris suits Beckham. She’s found her groove, one that specializes in clothing that is effective yet easy to wear. They convey the elegance and substance of a woman who really knows herself. And it’s nice to see that flash of levity and weirdness; There’s a comfort and confidence that comes with age. She doesn’t have to worry about Harper coming for her crown just yet.
