Victoria Beckham’s pre-spring 2022 collection marks a “rebirth” of her fashion brand. It’s how she refers to this week’s decision to merge her main luxury line, Victoria Beckham, with her more accessible diffusion line, Victoria, Victoria Beckham. In the process, the designer is cutting the new brand’s price tags by some 40 per cent compared to her historical main line prices, making her clothes more affordable to those who have limited their VB desires to window shopping in the past. The bold move heralds a new era for Beckham, whose pre-collection – the first as part of the rebirth – embodies her ongoing commitment to quality and the fashion-forward character that defines her. Albeit, she says, with a new focus on ease. Beckham and her company’s CEO, Marie LeBlanc de Reynies, spoke to Anders Christian Madsen about their season of change.
Tell me about this “rebirth”
Victoria Beckham: What we’ve decided to do post-pandemic is to take Victoria Beckham and Victoria, Victoria Beckham and merge the two into one cohesive brand. It will bring our average price point down from over £900 to £550 without compromising the desirability, quality, and ready-to-wear aesthetic.
What brought this on?
VB: We saw such a huge opportunity and change in the way that people not only want to dress, but shop. We saw a sweet spot with this price point, if you like. It will just mean that we’ll have a more accessible entry price, but we’ll still have the high-end pieces. There’s not a single seam that feels like a compromise, and I’m really excited about it.
Marie LeBlanc de Reynies: We have used this time to look at how the market looks, our brand, and our community. We’ve come to a natural result, which is to bring the VB and VVB brands under a single umbrella, maintaining the elevated, feminine, confident feel of VB, but expanding into ease and proposing a 360-degree luxury, affordable brand to our community.
Is the decision an outcome of the pandemic?
MLBdR: We’ve seen a consistent shift during the pandemic, which is looking into ease, a care to the price point, and also a lifestyle way of buying. We’ve seen a huge opportunity in the market, which is a space for an affordable luxury brand. It’s about having an elevated, chic brand and maintaining our DNA, but providing more functions – more ease – and making sure our consumer can relate to the brand both in terms of use and price point.
VB: I can’t think of anybody who is doing this, to be honest with you. But why should price point compromise desirability and fashion? There’s not one piece in this collection that I haven’t designed with myself in mind, so it doesn’t feel like compromising. It feels like a more modern approach to dressing and shopping.
Luxury has always been so ingrained in your image – “Posh” – but actually, you’ve never shied away from accessible clothes. Everyone thought those little black dresses you used to wear in the ’90s were Gucci, but weren’t they in fact from the high street?
VB: Absolutely. That was a Miss Selfridge dress! It was certainly not as designer as everyone thought it was. When I look at our beauty brand, it is the most luxurious product out there, but at a very affordable price point. When you look at our make-up, you feel like you’re getting the ultimate in luxury, and you are. But at the right price point.
Will people be able to tell a difference when they go to your Dover Street store to try on a dress?
VB: For me, no. It still feels like the aesthetic of the ready-to-wear brand. You still have the strong silhouette; the tailoring. It feels like the same quality. There’s still an element of fun. The colour palette is very on-brand. I don’t think she’ll notice. I think she’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Has the pandemic impacted the way you’ve designed this collection?
VB: During the pandemic, the question on everyone’s lips has been: what do we want to wear when we come out of this? I believe that people want a sense of ease about the way the dress. I use the word “ease” and not “comfort”, because it’s still about a strong fashion message and feeling as considered, just easier and slightly less buttoned-up, if you like.
Why “ease” and not “comfort”?
VB: Because “comfort” makes us think of tracksuit bottoms in lockdown. Don’t get me wrong, we do a lovely tracksuit with Reebok that’s done very well during the pandemic, but I’m talking about ease. People want to dress up, they want to go out. We’ve got lilac sequins with bright pink turtleneck jumpers, but there’s an ease at the same time, which feels like how people will want to dress post-pandemic, in my opinion.
How does this pre-collection embody the rebirth; this new ease?
VB: You can see a good example in the long jersey dresses we’ve created. They feel very elevated, very elegant and desirable, but easy when you wear them. We’ve really been looking at both VVB and Victoria Beckham and understanding what customers want from both categories, like this really beautiful little satin date-night dress that you’ll wear with a man’s tuxedo jacket. I think it’s a different customer, who’ll want this dress. It’s something I’ve been desiring for a long time.
Will your customer be different, then?
VB: I’m pretty sure our existing customer will welcome this collection, but I think there’s a younger customer who’ll come to this collection as well. We saw that with VVB, and it’s something we’ve been wanting to expand on.
MLBdR: VB used to be around a £900 price point, and VVB £300, so it’s about blending those two and making the most of it. It’s not about segmenting those two customers, but about mixing them together.
How have you achieved this more accessible price point?
VB: We’ve been working with different factories but also challenging our mills – challenging the whole team – and that was the right thing for us to do, even if there hadn’t been a pandemic. The pandemic has allowed everybody to reinvent themselves, which is what fashion is about.
How has the pandemic changed your own approach to dressing?
VB: I went to New York a few weeks ago to work with the beauty team, and it was really lovely to consider what I was putting in my suitcase. When we’re working from home, we don’t consider what we’re going to wear the way we do when going on trips. And I have to say, there were certain things I pulled out of my wardrobe that just didn’t feel – in my gut – right. There was nothing wrong with them, but the world is a very different place now. I want more ease, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a strong look.
How are your personal fashion desires represented in this collection?
VB: I’ll always be inspired by menswear, but there’s definitely something more feminine about this collection, which is what I personally desire. I want to get dressed up, I want to go out, I want to show off my body a little bit more. I want to feel feminine. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in wanting to look desirable for your partner, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. I don’t want to bury myself under clothes like I did a while ago. That’s how I feel coming out of the last 18 months.
