Posh Spice bent on design

Victoria Beckham, 40, who was part of the popular 1990s pop group Spice Girls, has been tweeting a series of cheeky pictures which hint at a Posh Spice comeback.

In the latest one posted from Singapore on Monday, she is pictured reclining on a black grand piano with a microphone and her hairstylist Ken Paves, while make-up artist Sarah Lucero tinkles on the keys.

The mother of four, who is married to star footballer David Beckham, captioned the picture: "'Singapore singers' have expanded to a trio! @kenpaves and @sarahluceroglam x vb".

Beckham was in town to showcase her collections to guests at two private events held at the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands last Saturday and at designer shoe and accessory store On Pedder at Scotts Square on Monday.

The designer, who projects a wintry demeanour and hardly smiles for the camera, is the opposite in person.

She was friendly, smiled during the interview and asked for tips on handling the humid weather here.

When asked about the tongue-in-cheek shots in a 25-minute interview with Life!, Beckham joked: "Myself and Ken have started a duet, we'll be singing in a bar at some point this week."

Dressed in a stylish white and grey silk and wool-blend crepe mini dress as well as sky-high monochromatic stilettos, the designer clarified: "I like to poke fun at myself. I take my job and family life very seriously but I also like to have fun.

"I am absolutely not singing anymore. Finished."

She is bent on focusing on her career as a designer, which one could argue is her third career after being Posh Spice and then Mrs Beckham.

Comparing her life as a pop star to her job now, she said: "I enjoyed my time with the Spice Girls and had fun. It was a great time in my life, but music is not my passion.

"Fashion is really my passion. I feel I really have something to offer."

She first dipped her toes into fashion design in 2004 when she co-designed jeans, knits and skirts for denim label Rock & Republic. In 2006, she parted ways with the label and, in 2008, started her own denim line Victoria Beckham Denim.

That same year, she launched her eponymous luxury ready-to-wear label in September at New York Fashion Week, with a collection of 10 structured, clean and figure-skimming pieces which impressed fashion journalists. The aesthetic of that debut collection has since become the brand's signature silhouette.

Just 400 pieces from the first collection were made and sold through nine high-end retailers such as Selfridges, Harrods, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. Today, an average of 5,000 pieces from each season are stocked at more than 100 boutiques worldwide. The ready-to-wear line makes up the biggest chunk of the brand's revenue.

Besides the ready-to-wear and denim categories, the Victoria Beckham business is also made up of Victoria Victoria Beckham, a younger and relatively more affordable diffusion line launched in 2012; a bag extension which debuted in 2011; and an eyewear line started in 2009.

The entire product range is sold at about 500 stockists globally.

Fashion news website The Business Of Fashion reported that the Victoria Beckham label raked in £30 million (S$63 million) in sales last year, a 91 per cent increase from 2012.

Although she has been successful in her design career so far, Beckham said she is constantly kept on her toes.

"It doesn't get any easier. You are very nervous, constantly questioning yourself: 'Have I made the right decision? Is that the right shoe, the right model, the right venue?"

Designing and presenting a collection is always nerve-racking, she said.

"It is actually very draining because you give so much; lots of late nights, lots of early mornings, you're putting in a lot of hours... so you're physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the process. But, of course, it's not just me but my team as well."

As for the prejudices she had to overcome in her journey to becoming a designer, she said: "I don't really care about what people say, I gave up worrying about that a long time ago.

"Every season, there is no guarantee that people will like what you're going to put out there. I stay true to myself but also want to challenge myself and have a strong fashion message each season."

Beckham said she is taking more risks.

In her latest fall collection, she played with more relaxed shapes (a departure from her usual bodycon designs) and, for the first time, experimented with bold graphic motifs and oversized abstract ruffles.

"As long as I like it, I feel that my customer likes it, and I have a point of view, that is the most important thing."

It also helps to have a supportive husband. They married in 1999 and have always lived their lives in the spotlight.

"He supports the fact that I'm a working mum, he is my rock, really.

"So, for example, we make sure we don't travel at the same time. I've been here for a week so David is at home doing the school run. We are very equal at home - we take turns."

Life! was told that she would not answer personal questions but when this topic was broached during the conversation, she was forthcoming with anecdotes about her family life.

The Beckham brood consists of three boys, Brooklyn, 15, Romeo, 11, and Cruz, nine, as well as a girl, Harper, three.

When it comes to bringing up their children, the Beckhams try to instil in them their own work ethic.

"The disciplined and hardworking attitude is very important. They watch me and David go about our work, they go to great schools where they are expected to put in hard work.

"And just because they have parents who are famous doesn't make them any different from other children."

Like most working mothers, Beckham said, "you do feel very guilty".

"What is the perfect balance? I don't know. As women, we give ourselves a tough time. We are our own worst enemies and very critical of ourselves. We have to give ourselves a pat on the back sometimes and say, 'well done'.

"It is also important for women to help one another out. I have a sister and a great mum who help me with the children and I have great friends around me as well."

So would she want Harper to take over her fashion business eventually?

"If that is what she wants to do and if she has a talent for that. Maybe it would be Harper, maybe it would be one of the boys, or even none of them."

But in her own way, Harper has already displayed a penchant for fashion.

"Like the boys, she would comment if there is a handbag or pair of shoes she likes.

"Often, when I return from work, I would go to the kitchen, take my shoes off and put my handbag and sunglasses down. And she would put on my sunglasses and heels, carry my bag and walk around the house dressed as mummy."

Once the last question was answered, the publicity officer ended the interview with a curt "thank you very much".

Then, as if on cue, the designer snapped back into her cool public persona and left the room.

This article was published on May 17 in The Straits Times.

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