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NEW YORK, United States — When Victoria Beckham is papped in the papers, she is more likely to be passing through an airport than anywhere else. The woman travels. And that experience infused her Spring collection.
“I’ve been in a good place,” she said. No place in particular, she insisted, though she’s constantly on the move between homes in LA and London, and she’s been spending a lot of time in South Africa in her capacity as an International Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS. No, said Beckham, it was more about place as a state of mind, defined by movement, fluidity and lightness.
Still, parts foreign did make their presence felt, here an exaggerated gingham with a Caribbean flavour, there a print that had a hint of African kente cloth, and an image of surfers as the visual motif of the collection. There were hibiscus too. "Hawaii Five O," Beckham said with a laugh. "I'm not used to using print, but I think it's important to challenge myself. I don't want to be a designer where everyone knows what they're going to see."
It’s certainly true that she herself has always had a look: precise, somewhat formal. But, if she stays true to past form, that look will surely change with this new collection. It wasn’t just the print, colour-blocked in a graphic, quasi-Warholian way; it was also the volumes that took Beckham into uncharted territory, with languid lengths, full skirts and oversize tops. She liked a crushed duchesse satin for long, casual slip dresses, slit to the thigh and paired with flat leather slip-ons. And if suede was her choice for a back-zipped hoodie and a poncho, it too seemed light and easy.
It was gratifying to see Beckham feeling freer and more playful with her designs. She more than met the challenge she set herself. Women will be surprised by what they see here. Then they’ll be seduced.
