“I would say that she’s a lady, but not always ladylike. She’s got a bit of a naughty side to her,” Victoria Beckham said of herself as she stood backstage, and while husband David paraded past with some of the Beckham brood in tweedy English caps.
In contrast, Victoria’s clothes seemed far from the country air; they're more city-slicker, and paired with skinny pants or slim skirts. In her own description: “There was no direct reference or inspiration, but lots of different movies inspired the collection.”
As with most female designers, that translates as: she dresses for herself – a confident 40-something – starting with scarlet as a lead colour and continuing with fun footwear. She moves back from flats to her favoured heels, perhaps patterned with leopard spots.
“I love showing everything with a heel. I think it finishes the silhouette off,” she claimed. “And I love colour. It feels really new and fresh. There’s a strangeness about the colours, but a real strong energy. She’s quite naughty, this girl, I think.”
You can talk the talk and walk the walk, even showing a pinch from the 1970s, a sophisticated print and an apparently simple lace dress that “took 22 hours and 27,000 stitches” to make, as the designer described it.
And you can admire VB for challenging herself and her technical team. But what is the ultimate achievement? A kind of conservative chic.
She put it so neatly: “I genuinely mean it: I will be wearing absolutely everything.”
It is not unusual for women, especially the wealthy and famous, to throw their hats in the fashion ring. With her energy and drive, the designer has worked with Estée Lauder to build a powerful beauty business, over which she is now taking full control – make-up, skin care, fragrance and ‘wellness’ – under her own name.
What's more, she is extending her empire with her own YouTube channel, which launched in London this weekend.
Expect more of those collaborations that nurture and decorate the skin. But don't expect VB to change the face of fashion.