New York no more for Victoria Beckham. For her tenth anniversary, Beckham brought her show back home to London, showing at the brilliant Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, next door to her flagship store on Dover Street. One can hardly believe that Beckham is at the ten year mark - as time has flown, Beckham’s signatures have developed and honed to great acclaim. There was certainly a time when Beckham was reduced to the term ‘celebrity designer,’ but here after a decade of hard work, Beckham once again pleasantly surprised many with her centennial offering.
From charcoal water, to Solange Knowles playing overhead, to the giant Diptyque candles in the lobby in cool tones of green, every detail was in keeping with Victoria Beckham’s eye and influence. The stark white show space especially. I like to imagine her house to be much the same - almost uninhabitable, clean and elegant. All particularly appealing to the clientele too.
The re-boot of Juergen Teller’s Marc Jacobs campaign, plastered all over the walls of the store, has been a marketing triumph, with each guest receiving a poster and tote bag. Like it or not, there is no escaping Beckham’s legs and that shopper. So the scene is set, campaign and strategy already a raucous conversation on Instagram but how were the clothes?
As Back To Life, Back To Reality started pounding on the stereo, Stella Tennant opened the show in a stark white suit trouser and blazer. This look almost summarises the entirety of the collection; crisp, clean, sharp and fresh. Beautiful pairings of light blue and toffee beige are inviting on a thickly waisted trouser and camisole vest. A mock-turtleneck dress with jagged baby pink hem and belted waist was brilliantly subtle in its sexiness.
Layers that peeled and flared out from under dress and pinstripe trouser were both elegant and showed evidence of dressing in haste. But rather than looking rushed or last-minute, they embodied Beckham's nonchalant nonplussed attitude. However, just as if a no-make-up make-up look, behind that quickly ready and flawless exterior, there are hours of polish and prep to look so 'flung together.’ That could be said for everything on show here; just polished enough, just ruffled enough, sleek, chic with an element of play. Here's hoping London is where Beckham chooses to stay.
