Victoria Beckham made her Paris Fashion Week debut on Friday with a cast of five-star models, her front-row family and a collection brimming with edgy sophistication.
The 48-year-old former Spice Girl, who has been away from the catwalk for two years, hopes that joining the most prestigious event on the fashion calendar can help get her business out of debt.
He sent out superstar model Bella Hadid in a sleek green dress with long latex gloves, while her sister wore a black pantsuit.
Beckham herself did not appear on the catwalk at the end of the show as is normal for fashion week.
Instead, she mingled with the crowd afterwards in the courtyard of the venue, Val-de-Grace Abbey, on the arm of her husband David Beckham, a rare move in the usually cordoned-off world of high fashion, and one that underscores her depression. approach to land.
“It’s London coming to Paris, and it’s great,” she was heard telling the crowd as she posed for photos with her son Brooklyn and new wife Nicola Peltz.
On the runway, it was all femininity heightened: stilettos, cut-outs, sheer tops, form-fitting dresses, and presented with a very traditional array of rake-thin models, not far from the stylist’s own image.
Pink, blue, mauve and lilac: there were spring colors among Beckham’s most beloved black.
french makeover
Beckham’s sophisticated eveningwear and office wear have been a surprise hit with fashionistas since her debut show in 2008, confounding those who expected her to be another celebrity dilettante.
He has presented his clothes mainly in New York, apart from a brief flirtation with London.
But despite having 250 global outlets selling her clothes, 30 million Instagram followers and one of the world’s most famous husbands, Beckham’s company has always struggled to turn a profit.
In an attempt to turn things around, it has recruited the best French talent: its president is Ralph Toledano, former president of the French Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion, and its CEO is Marie Leblanc de Reynies, a former senior buyer at the shopping mecca. in Paris. Printemps.
“Victoria is not from the world of fashion. She launched into the business and at a certain point she needed to structure, organize and put order in the house, which is what we have been doing for four years,” Toledano told AFP.
Smart office and evening wear was always going to struggle during the pandemic, and reports this summer showed the brand was £54m in debt and had to cut prices and staff to stay afloat.
But a successful line of cosmetics, launched in 2019, has helped cut losses, and the team expects to break even in the coming months.
“We defined a strategy, we combined two pret-a-porter lines, we found the right price point… now it’s time to enter the big leagues,” Toledano said.
Paris Fashion Week is a way for Beckham to validate her status “as a designer and not just as a celebrity,” said Benjamin Simmenauer, a professor at the French Fashion Institute.
She joins fellow Brits Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney on the official Paris calendar, as well as rising stars like Craig Green.