The Netflix docu-series Victoria Beckham captures the professional growth of Victoria Adams, the Spice Girl, who became the WAG when marrying footballer David Beckham, who ultimately flourished into the fashion designer we know of today. If the world wanted her to be Posh Spice forever, or the trophy wife of an athlete, Victoria Beckham proved them wrong, with dedication to what she considered her true calling.
The three-episodes travel across the main chapters of Victoria Beckam’s life: the rise to stardom as a pop-star, the retirement from show-biz focusing on her family, and the rebirth of the phoenix as an entrepreneur. The origins of her life are aspirational. Little Victoria from Hertfordshire was shy and bullied. She explains how she felt like “the uncool kid at school.” She took refuge in the performing arts, singing and dancing in musicals, to the point that for the audition of the girl band that would change her life forever she brought the song Mein Herr from Cabaret. The Spice Girls was the first time she felt a feeling of belonging. The sense of sisterhood and freedom of expression, channelled through girl-power, healed her self-esteem.
When the girlband split the world changed her label into trophy wife and mother, who would seek attention by wearing extravagant outfits. When she took the decision to challenge herself as the creator of garments the world was skeptical. She started from scratch by learning a new profession, that she always admired from the outside. Victoria Beckham surrounded herself with excellent mentors, who pushed her to challenge herself continuously. In 2008, her first fashion show took place in a Hotel suite, with 10 dresses that were unveiled to a select audience. Roland Mouret’s support towards the burgeoning designer was misunderstood by the crowds. The masses thought he was the deus ex machina, backing Victoria Beckham’s brand, because we give for granted that “there’s got to be a man behind it.” She demonstrated the opposite, also by expanding her brand to a beauty line. The journey was not easy, it was rather a roller coaster, also financially, since the brand at one point ended up in the red. But the resilience that Victoria had during her childhood emerged once more as a full-fledged woman.
Victoria Beckham’s way of showing people what she is worth is quiet. Even her being camera-shy made people misconstrue her introversion as attitude. Just like Pamela Anderson took control of the narrative of her misreported life with the Netflix documentary dedicated to her, Victoria Beckham sets the record straight.
The series grants her the opportunity to have her version of the story told and take a few things off her chest, whether it was the eating disorders caused when as an adolescent she was called overweight or show the commitment to her working team. To quote one of the songs of the band she was part of — with Mel C, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell — Victoria knows what it means to “Spice Up Your Life.”
As we observe the ups and downs of her life, what emerges is how she was “desperately in need of love.” The audiovisual chronicle does not have only Victoria Beckham’s perspective, since it includes many interviewees. Amongst these, besides relatives and friends like Eva Longoria, there are also the likes of Tom Ford, Juergen Teller, Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace and Gigi Hadid.
The take away message is how Victoria today wants to be a source of pride for her family and collaborators, and the enterprising gist comes across convincingly. Netflix’s Victoria Beckham is about overlooking preconceptions and, above all, embarking upon the long path to remove the labels others have placed on us.
Final Grade: B+
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Photo Credits: Netflix