It’s no secret that I’m an admirer of Victoria Beckham. She has great style and has successfully evolved from a girl band, pop icon to a serious designer. Now let’s get one thing straight right here, many celebrities lend their names to clothing collections where an anonymous over worked and underpaid design team does all the heavy lifting of producing a collection, while the celeb comes in once in a while for a fully orchestrated presentation to give their blessing to. Basically it’s a licensing agreement with the celebrity’s style serving as the inspiration for the collection. There’s nothing wrong with this arrangement if you don’t object to the mendacity of duping fans into thinking the celebrity cares about the collection beyond the royalty checks. These collaborations are usually short lived, fizzling out when the hype wears down. Do I sound a tad cynical? Well I am because as a designer I’m tired of all the celebs and celebrity stylists thinking they like clothes therefore they can design them, it’s like saying I like movies, I’ll be an actor. There is a little thing called talent that comes into play. A huge instagram following does not a designer make. Victoria Beckham does not fall into this category (the Olson sisters are legit as well but that’s another story), it’s her own company and she has built it from the ground up.
What I admire about Beckham’s collection is the way it has evolved and matured to serve her own needs as a businesswoman and mother of four. In turn serving the needs of many women with complicated, busy lives. Now Ms. Beckham has launched a cosmetics line with Estee Lauder, which to me seems like a natural extension of her brand. The woman knows a thing or two about makeup and has put that knowledge to good use. Again referencing her own needs she has developed the products and colors based on the different looks she favors for different locales. Cleverly the makeup capsules are divided into four groups, London, Los Angeles, New York and Paris. The capsules for each city give the customer everything she’ll need to achieve the distinct look of each, taking the guesswork out of gathering the right products. My favorites are the nude and natural Los Angeles group and the smoky-eyed London group. You can see the entire collection at vogue.it.
Tomorrow let’s talk about these fabulous cropped wide leg pants!
