Beckham debuts at London Fashion Week to celebrate decade in fashion
Ex-Spice Girl celebrates 10 years of her label at London Fashion Week
Untested in the fashion world, Victoria Beckham launched her label in 2008 in New York, across the Atlantic from her native Britain.
A decade on, she exhibited at London Fashion Week for the first time on Sunday, in a triumphant homecoming of sorts for a now widely respected designer and entrepreneur.
The former Spice Girls member oversees an empire comprising four clothing lines, more than 400 retail outlets in over 50 countries and offices in London and New York.
The show, which was largely closed to press photographers, took place in a contemporary art gallery next to her store in central London's plush Mayfair district.
Naturally, her husband, English football superstar David Beckham and their four children - Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper - were sitting front row.
MILESTONE
"Today is a milestone: our 10-year anniversary and my first show in London," Beckham, 44, said.
"I'm really happy to be able to celebrate this season back home."
At the outset, longtime fashionista Beckham faced a daunting challenge - convincing a competitive and demanding industry that she could make a lasting impression on fickle fashion fans.
Seizing the opportunity to surpass her status as a pop star and footballer's wife, she has gradually earned widespread recognition, even from fashion luminaries such as Karl Lagerfeld, the creative genius behind Chanel.
Professor of fashion design at the University of Westminster Andrew Groves said: "Many saw her as just another example of a celebrity wanting to have a fashion range with no formal fashion training.
"Through hard work and determination, she has proved those early critics wrong."
For the spring-summer 2019 season, Beckham is revisiting the classic chic that made her name in the business.
She said: "This collection looks back, but also forward - it explores the codes of the brand, the identity I have built up over the 10 years since my first show.
"Fluid lines, a mix of masculine and feminine, print, an arresting mix of unusual colours - these are our codes."
Her collection plays on contrasts by mixing her favourite shades like black, white and grey with ethereal blue and ruby tones.
"It is also a collection about choice: There are slender and wide trousers, midi and full-length skirts, eased shapes and fitted forms.
"Brocade and satin, tailoring and fluidity," she said.
"There is a lightness throughout that feels modern." - AFP
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