Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
You have to give it to Victoria Beckham. After breaking her foot at the gym (“I tripped,” she said of the accident), there she was on crutches, walking the full length of the runway at her fall 2024 show in Paris, even stopping mid-lap to give hubbie David a smooch.
And that was after PETA protestors caused a ruckus during the first few looks, sending her security guards scurrying.
Beckham is made of tough stuff. As a commenter on my Instagram said, “She works out harder than David.” She is also really funny, girlie and self-deprecating. Her fashion collection? That’s more of an enigma.
In recent years, she’s done ballet core, British countryside, lingerie looks, Latex, Hollywood starlet dresses, collegiate, hair as texture, fringe as texture, romantic sheer and oversized and tailored. But what does Victoria Beckham the fashion brand stand for? What are its signatures, other than the “B” logo on belts and handbag clasps? TBD.
She does consistently talk about the concept of wardrobe, which this season was a literal wardrobe where one keeps clothes on hangers. That sparked sharp shoulder lines on handsome pea coats; blazers suspended from the neck and pitched forward that could be worn with or without the arms in sleeves, drooping pants silhouettes, wire-shaped “mushroom” knits and starched shirt collars as accessories over bare skin.
In addition to these more conceptual looks were more classic pieces, too, including extreme funnel-neck leather jackets (for keeping the paparazzi — or PETA protesters — at bay, perhaps), ski turtlenecks with logo zip pulls, and ballooning parachute dresses, some cinched at the waist with abstract wire brooches after Picasso’s light drawings, she said. (Art was another through-line, a Julian Schnabel painting that hangs in the Beckhams’ home informed the darker color palette.)
While this was a more elevated collection from the designer with real standouts, particularly in the outerwear and knitwear departments, it did seem to cherry pick some inspiration from others. Now that the beauty category has powered Beckham’s business to net sales of 100 million euros, hopefully she can settle on and evolve a more palpable design language of her own.
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