From the Archives: Victoria Beckham on Finding Her Life’s Passion

Like many women designers, Victoria approaches her work in a way that’s uniquely personal and subjective. “I’ve always had to make the best of what I’ve got,” she tells me. “I’ve never been a six-foot-tall, skinny model [she is five feet four], so therefore I want to create an illusion. People always think I’m taller than I am—not just because of the shoes I wear but because of the way I dress. It’s all relatively streamlined.”

When Victoria conceived her brand, “I wanted clothes—whether a pair of jeans or an evening dress—that I would wear myself. That’s the final test. Would I wear it? If I would, I put it out there, and if I wouldn’t, I don’t.” Her “sucky-sucky” dress is a case in point. “It gives [my customers] a little waist. It’s great on the boobs, it’s great on the bottom,” says Victoria, whose polished collections rap—if at times bordering on an infomercial—is worlds apart from those of designers who present inspiration boards and blind you with arcane references. “We spend a lot of time perfecting our fit,” she continues. “We spend hours obsessing over a shoulder. My aim is to create the perfect dress!”

Above all, Victoria’s approach is strictly pragmatic. “When a season goes well,” she says, “the first thing I think is, Oh, great, I can do another season. I’m very realistic. I’m creative—but women need to want to buy the dresses.”

During fittings (on the day I visit, for fashion, shoes, and handbags), Victoria is all-seeing. “I take opinions on board and digest it all. Think about it and then make the final decision,” she tells me. “I’ve got to believe in it. Otherwise, how can I expect other people to believe in it?” She can also be droll. During the shoe meeting, Victoria is judging the exact placement of straps on unfitted ankle boots that Christian Louboutin has made for her runway show. “I think it’s chicer with just the two. I think it looks a bit Puss in Boots with three,” she says, “a bit Mary Poppins. And if they’re going to do the cuff, it should be around the top—or they’re going to look like they’ve got cankles!”