The Victor Is Victoria

For the British tabloids, and millions of Millennials, she will always be Posh Spice. The enduring legacy bewilders the successful beauty and fashion entrepreneur 20 years after she shed her black PVC catsuits and spiky heels.

“People love the Spice Girls. I love the Spice Girls. I’m so proud of that. But I feel I’ve been defined by that four-year period in my life,” Beckham says in an exclusive interview at her West London office. “I’ve been in fashion for nearly two decades and am still fighting the Spice Girl preconceptions.”

Beckham, wearing Saint Laurent peep-toe heels, a white T-shirt and check pencil skirt from her own collection, sits in a big, sunny room filled with racks of clothing and accessories samples, all the elements of her current world. Her navy cashmere jacket — from a few seasons ago — is casually draped over the back of the sofa.

Putting the Spice Girls image to rest is a big reason why she decided to make the three-part Netflix documentary, “Victoria Beckham.” 

It premiered on Oct. 9, and is directed by Nadia Hallgren, who made the 2000 documentary “Becoming,” which followed former First Lady Michelle Obama on the book tour for her memoir. The new project comes two years after the attention-getting “Beckham,” focused on husband David, and is produced by Dorothy St Pictures and Studio 99, which David cofounded.

“I had said ‘No’ for quite a long time, but then I watched so many different fashion documentaries and realized the time was right,” says Beckham, who wears her dark hair in a loose and easy bob edged with blond highlights.

“I feel that now — and only now — the time is right for me to reflect on my journey, and how I’ve got to where I am. There have been so many celebrity brands, but David and I were one of the first when we did our fragrances with Coty,” in the early 2000s. And both brands are still thriving. 

Netflix followed Beckham around for a year. The team filmed her at home, at work in London and showing her collections in Paris. They sat with her at beauty meetings in New York and hung around makeup launches at stores including Brown Thomas in Ireland. 

Beckham, ever the entertainer, says she enjoyed the experience, and even compared it to therapy.

“I learned so much about myself. When I went into it, I considered myself a control freak, and when I came out the other end, I was less so. For the first time, I wasn’t in control — and that can make a control freak uncomfortable. But for me, it’s been quite liberating.”

It’s a brave move, especially for someone so used to being scrutinized and criticized. “This is not a vanity project,” she says. “It’s also the first time that I’ve ever looked back and reflected on what I’ve done. I have come out of this feeling really content.

“It’s been almost like a year of therapy,” she says, adding that she hasn’t seen the final cut, and won’t do, until it streams. And while she is anxious to finally put the Spice Girls image to rest there were other motivations for making the documentary. 

“I’ve had to prove myself to a lot of people in the industry and to the public, and I’m excited for people to see the journey. I’m proud of what I have done in my life,” Beckham says.

She’s proud of her honesty during filming, talking about “the highs and the lows, and the struggles” of building both businesses and redefining herself as an entrepreneur. “I’ve never spoken about those things. We’ve all seen them reported on, but I’ve never talked about them,” she adds. 

The Power of Determination

Beckham has spent her life defying expectations — and the famously nosy British media, which pounces on every move that she, David and the family make. Beckham does not talk about the reported rift with her eldest son, Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, and his wife Nicola Peltz Beckham, which is currently being played out in detail in the tabloids. 

Instead, she’s taking the high road, and focusing on her family and her growing fashion and beauty businesses, which in 2024 reported a 26 percent uptick in total revenue to 112.7 million pounds, or $151.8 million, compared with the previous year. While there was a small, undisclosed operating loss during the period, the brand says it’s on track for long-term profitability.

Every single penny has been hard won, and much of that success is down to Beckham’s relationship with David Belhassen, the founder of Neo Investment Partners, which took a substantial minority stake in Beckham’s business in 2017, valuing it at 100 million pounds.

The high-profile investment by Neo, whose other brands include Tom Dixon, Valextra and Miller Harris, prompted much clucking in the media — and the wider industry — many of whom argued that the brand would never succeed.

Unlike some entrepreneurs who take private equity investment, and then ignore the men and women in suits, Beckham listens to Belhassen. She also heeds the advice of company chairman Ralph Toledano, a luxury brand management veteran and former president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.

In 2021, at Belhassen’s bidding, Beckham restrategized, consolidated her secondary collection, VVB, into the main line, and cut the average price point in half. Together with the brand’s former chief executive officer Marie Leblanc, who left amicably and now runs Courrèges, Beckham worked hard on streamlining the back end of the business, such as sourcing, supply chain and manufacturing.

“That was such a turning point for the brand, and I remember David Belhassen saying to me ‘This is what we’ve got to do to stay together.’ It was a compromise in many ways, and challenging for the teams, but it was the right thing to do,” Beckham says. 

Belhassen says he invested in Beckham’s business because he saw “immense global potential across many categories,” adding that “poor execution was holding it back big time. I was convinced that Victoria possessed the stamina and intelligence to work alongside the team and I, through the difficult transformation. Once the foundations were corrected, we knew the ambition could be truly limitless.”

He describes Beckham as a “perfectionist with extraordinary intuition and taste,” and his aim has been “to push her to trust those instincts without restraint. She is utterly dedicated to the business, resilient, fearless in the face of obstacles, relentless in her drive and constantly seeks to raise the bar.”

Eyeliner and Elbow Grease 

Beckham says she approaches this job like she does everything else. “I’ve always had to work hard. When I was at school, and at theater school, nothing ever came easy. This is a difficult industry, and it’s taken us years to get where we are today,” she says.

She’s constantly looking to improve the products, too, and one reason why she sometimes shows up at the Selfridges beauty counter unannounced. The customers love it — many of them are there to replicate Beckham’s look — although the staff “probably dread seeing me coming,” she says with a smile. 

In fact, she popped into Selfridges last month because “Harper wanted to go shopping. So we stopped by the pop-up counter for The Foundation Drops,” part of the brand’s ongoing collaboration with Augustinus Bader. The drops debuted in September with 19 shades, each priced at $110.

“I was just there checking things out, talking to a couple of customers. I want feedback at many different levels,” says Beckham, whose brand is one of the shop floor stars. 

In 2023, a few months after it launched, Victoria Beckham Beauty became the sixth biggest seller at Selfridges despite its relatively small footprint and number of skus on offer. Beckham’s Satin Kajal Liner remains the number-one eyeliner across the Selfridges London beauty hall, with the top color being Cocoa, followed by Cinnamon. 

The brand sells one eyeliner every 30 seconds, and Beckham says it’s no mystery why.

“There are so many brown eyeliners out there, but this is a specific color of brown that I obsessed over” during development, she says, adding that it had to be easy to apply, with the right amount of ‘playtime’ before it sets. It also had to be long-lasting, easy to use and to take off.

“I am product obsessed. I never settle and I don’t want to put anything out until I truly believe it is best in class, whether that’s fashion or beauty. I work very closely with my team, and spend time in the labs as well,” Beckham says.

On a recent Sunday, Beckham spent the day running around her house in a red lipstick that’s currently in development. “David said to me ‘That’s a bold look.’ But I need to know how it’s going to hold up during the day, when I’m drinking, when I’m eating my lunch, my dinner, when I’m kissing the kids. I wear-test absolutely everything.”

You don’t have to be David — or even one of the four Beckham kids — to see her in action. Beckham posts regular beauty tutorials from home, wearing nothing but a robe and towel turban. Surprisingly, they are pretty low-tech.

“I’m not a makeup artist; I’m not a model. And I’ve only just invested in a tripod. Up until now, I was doing my makeup, talking and filming with my phone at the same time. When I do those videos, I’m also looking for feedback, paying attention to the comments and learning how I can communicate with my customer,” Beckham says. 

The Common Touch

Even the fragrances, which launched in 2023, are a way of connecting on an intimate level with the customer.

Beckham, a marketeer to her core and fully aware of the power of the family name, offered deeply personal stories to go with each fragrance. She also starred in the debut campaign, shot by Steven Klein, and talked about the inspiration behind scents, Portofino ’97, Suite 302 and San Ysidro Drive.

“This is my autobiography through scent, and a new way of communicating with my community,” Beckham said at the time.

Portofino reminds her of the secret courtship with David before they first appeared in public as a couple, while Suite 302 references The Ritz in Paris, where David whisked her on a second honeymoon — and many other trips over the years.

San Ysidro Drive was the street where the Beckhams lived when they moved to Los Angeles after David joined the L.A. Galaxy soccer team. 

It’s not just the beauty and fragrance customers she’s appealing to.

Beckham also engages closely with her fashion customers, some of whom have been fans since her Spice Girl days. They buy the brand for its masculine-feminine aesthetic, tailoring, denim and slinky dresses and pencil skirts.

The latest bestsellers include crêpe gowns and midi dresses, leather clutches with chunky watch chain details, and the Dorian Bag, named for David and Victoria’s favorite Notting Hill Michelin restaurant. Belts are one of the fastest-growing categories.

“I started two decades ago doing lots of in-store events and would literally get into the fitting room with my customer. I did private events all around the world, and I continue to do them. I want to get to know my customer, what she likes, what I can do better.”

Friends and former colleagues say Beckham can certainly woo a crowd. “She dresses them during those events and they just lap it up,” a former colleague says. “She’s an amazing entertainer, and she knows the product. She also has a wry sense of humor and people find her very approachable, warm and stylish. It’s an easy sell.”

The Trust Factor

She’s a good boss, too. 

Ilaria Icardi, who has her own jewelry brand and works for Prada, spent seven years as Beckham’s head womenswear designer, helping the brand shift from dresses to a fuller clothing offer.

Icardi describes her former boss as kind, professional and trusting.

“She gave me space and freedom and understood my needs as a single mother. When my daughter was very young, Victoria would send me home to be with her if she was ill. She even gave me the contact for her pediatrician in London — who I still go to today. In fashion, that kind of behavior is very rare. Both she and David were very supportive, and I enjoyed my years there. Victoria and I still text each other,” she says.

Beckham has always had a rapport with the design team, and now they’re helping her create a dress for David’s upcoming knighthood investiture.

“As a family, we’re super excited, and just so honored and proud of David,” says Beckham, who’ll be known as Lady Victoria Beckham after her husband picks up his knighthood.

Although she doesn’t offer any clues to the design, one thing’s for sure. She’ll be wearing a Stephen Jones hat. “Nobody does them like Stephen,” Beckham says. 

Jones says he’s been supplying Beckham with hats since her Spice Girl days. “I did hats for her performances and worked with her early on in her career. She can ‘perform’ the hat, but she also understands discretion. It’s nice to work on more understated pieces for her, too.”

Dream Big, and Then Dream Bigger 

From a business perspective there is much more to come, Beckham says. She wants to roll out stores in the U.S., which is mainly a wholesale business, and launch new categories such as lingerie and sportswear, following a successful collaboration with Reebok between 2017 and 2019.

She also wants to enter categories “that I need in my life. I work out every day. I have a point of view. I know how I want these things to function. I know the fabrics that I like, which means I can really put my personal learnings into those projects as well. It would be great if I had the opportunity to do something like that,” she says.

Beckham says she never dreamt the brand would get this big — and that there would still be so much potential. 

“I say dream big — and dream even bigger. But even I couldn’t have dreamed that I would be where I am now. We’ve spent years securing the foundations, and I really feel that now I am just scratching the surface,” she says. 

In the meantime, she is also getting on with life, and trying to enjoy herself, her four kids and her high-achieving husband, whose businesses stretch from sports to media, fashion, fragrance and consumer goods. (He signed a global design deal with Boss last year, and in 2022 partnered with Authentic, which now co-owns his brand.)

“I’ve really good people around me, a great team here and a really good family. David and the kids have always been so incredibly supportive,” she says, adding that after 26 years of marriage David still makes her laugh.

“That man is funny. There is nothing better than getting home at the end of the night, after a busy day, drinking a couple of tequilas and just having a laugh. We really enjoy that time together,” says Beckham, who’s trying to keep it real amid the maelstrom of life, and the dramas that inevitably await.